Spirited 358 Days
by RyukoVulpix
Summary: After finding himself in another world full of mysterious beings and strange monsters, Sora must struggle to save his friends and return home… wait, which story is this again? And who is that weird dragon boy with the red hair? KH/Spirited Away crossover.
1. Another World

_**A/N: **__For more about this and other stories, visit my message board "Author's Notes," which you can access through my profile page._

_Just as a warning, there are minor __**spoilers**__ for __**"Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days,"**__ as well as a few tidbits about "Birth By Sleep," though nothing too major there._

_Also, since this is the story of "Spirited Away," and since Roxas and Axel play the parts of Sen and Haku, there is __**AkuRoku**__ in this story… though whether it's pro- or anti-AkuRoku, is entirely up to you. Don't take anything I say too seriously! (dodges bricks)_

_Thanks for reading! Enjoy the show!_

_Edit 3/12/10: After realizing how FREAKING LONG this story actually is, I split it up into chapters. Sorry to spam everybody's alerts, but it had to be done. XD_

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_**Summary:**__ After finding himself in another world full of mysterious beings and strange monsters, Sora must struggle to save his friends and return home… wait, which story is this again? And who is that weird dragon boy with the red hair?_

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"**Spirited 358 Days"**

Subtitled:

"**Sora to Roxas no Kingdom Kakushi"**

**A Parody of "Sen to Chihiro no Kami Kakushi," also known as "Spirited Away"**

**Featuring the cast of "Kingdom Hearts"**

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**Chapter 1**

**Another World**

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It is a truth universally acknowledged, that all of the really classic children's stories start out with the main character getting him- or herself into some sort of delightfully extradimensional trouble. Alice fell down the rabbit hole; Dorothy found herself no longer in Kansas; Tidus witnessed the destruction of his entire home city by a bizarre monstrosity as he was thrown into a vortex that transported him to another world which set off a chain of events that brought into question the nature of his own existence; and Sally and her brother had to deal with the sudden intrusion of a hat-wearing cat into their house.

Sora, as the main character of a fan fiction posing as a children's story, should have seen it coming.

"You guys, I really don't think we should be in here," Sora whined, scrunching up his ten-year-old nose at the musty smell of the cave. He hugged his arms around himself and shivered; his white and green striped T-shirt and pink shorts (his mother made him wear them!) didn't do much to protect him against the chilly air. "It's cold. And it's wet. And it _smells."_

Riku, the oldest of the group at eleven years and therefore the leader, rolled his eyes and continued walking forward into the cavern. "Jeez, Sora, stop being such a scaredy-cat," he called back to his friend, waving the flashlight in his hand nonchalantly. "It's just a cave. Now hurry up or we'll leave you behind."

Kairi tried to be a little more understanding. "Come on, Sora," she said, taking his hand and pulling him along over the rocky ground. "We're explorers, right? This is what explorers do. Walk through caves."

"Yeah, but…" Sora muttered, glancing up at the cave walls, which to him seemed to be shrouded in some type of shadowy evil aura of darkness. He sweatdropped when the aura formed itself into the shape of a hand and waved at him. "Uhh, Kairi? Did you see that?" he asked, pointing nervously at the wall.

"See what?"

Really, he should have seen it coming.

It had all started out innocently enough. The three friends had been playing "explorers" on the far side of the playground island, when suddenly they had come across a cave that they had never seen before. Caves were fairly commonplace on the island, but this one stood out by the fact that it had _definitely not been there the day before._ Sora, being the young, timid child and not-yet-Keyblade-master that he was, had been rather unnerved by the cave's sudden appearance. Now, Sora didn't know much about anything, but he did know one thing about caves, and that was that caves Do Not Appear Out of Thin Air. Besides, there was no need to explore this cave when the Secret Place was just fine, thank you very much.

But Riku, being the leader, had decided that strange things needed to be investigated, and caves mysteriously appearing out of the ground with no warning at all were strange things indeed. And so, that was how the group found themselves exploring this odd cave, Riku leading the way, with Kairi following and dragging an increasingly unsettled Sora behind her, who with each step was growing more and more nervous and seriously creeped out by the whole ordeal.

"Riku, I _reeeally_ think we should go back now," Sora said, glancing out the corner of his eye at a particular group of dark tendrils that seemed to be playing Go Fish.

"Wait a minute!" Riku said. "There's something up ahead!" The older boy dashed off, taking the flashlight with him. Kairi tugged at Sora's hand, but Sora, very unnerved at this point, remained stubbornly in place, shaking his head. Kairi sighed, let go, and followed Riku.

Sora hesitated, gulped, and took one more look at the purple-black, vine-like shadows that were now apparently PictoChatting with each other on their Nintendo DS Lites (how ironic) before running wildly after Riku and Kairi, shouting, "Wait for me! _Wait for meee!"_

Sora did not so much catch up to his friends as he did nearly run them over. "Ouch!" he yelped as he collided with Riku's back, falling backwards onto his bottom. "Why'd you guys stop?" he asked. Then he saw it.

The cave, as it turned out, was not really a cave, but in fact a tunnel, and they had reached the other end of it. Standing at the mouth of the tunnel, the three children gazed out at a part of the island they had never seen before. And a very strange sight it was, too. Instead of the lush green plants and soft sandy soil they were accustomed to, this part of the island was completely paved over. Before them stretched a long road, on both sides of which tall, dark buildings and glowing neon signs stood. As they began to walk down the street, they spotted a skyscraper at the end of the road, with many giant television monitors flickering upon it. Beyond that, they could see a gigantic, white castle, with many towers and turrets, that seemed to be floating above a humongous chasm in the ground; and even though Sora could have sworn it was only three o'clock in the afternoon, the sky was pitch black, and the moon was hanging directly above them.

Sora pointed at the moon. "Shouldn't that be round instead of… um… heart-shaped?" he asked.

Riku snorted. "Stupid Sora," he said, "the moon is round in _our_ world."

"Uhh… yeah?" Sora said.

"So don't you get it?" Riku said, his voice rising in pitch as he whirled around to face Sora.

"Get what?"

"This _isn't_ our world!" Riku yelled. "The tunnel took us off that stupid island and into _another world!_ Look at it! It's so different! So new! So exciting!" the boy nearly shrieked as he raised his arms to the sky in a fit of enthusiasm.

"Uh, Riku? Are you feeling all right?" Sora asked.

Unfortunately, Sora did not receive a reply, for at that very moment this previously somewhat monotonous tale turned into an exciting horror story as a burst of black and purple darkness exploded out of nowhere, engulfing Riku in its smoky grasp like a tidal wave upon the shore. There wasn't even enough time for Riku to turn around and hold a hand out to Sora in a creepy manner.

"Riku!" Sora and Kairi shouted, but it was too late. Then, suddenly, the darkness turned and lunged forward, coming toward Sora. Paralyzed with fear, Sora stood, as rooted to the ground as a Dire Plant, watching helplessly as the fiery darkness towered above him, when suddenly Kairi screamed and shoved him aside.

"Kairi! Nooo!" Sora yelled, reaching out to help her, but the darkness had already enveloped Kairi, dragging her into its depths.

Before she disappeared entirely, Kairi yelled out, "Run, Sora!" Then, she was gone.

Sora cried out and stumbled backward, nearly tripping over his own oversized feet before he managed to turn around and send himself hurtling back the way he had come. He ran and ran, looking straight ahead, afraid that if he looked back and saw the darkness following him, he would freeze up entirely. Soon, he saw the mouth of the tunnel looming before him, not creepy anymore, but a beacon of hope, of light, of the promise that as soon as he stepped foot through it, he would be safe, safe from this monstrous world, safe from the darkness that was threatening to overtake him. If he could just get to it, he'd—

THUD.

"WHAT THE HEY!?" Sora shrieked as he was once more knocked down onto his backside (he was going to have a nasty bruise down there at this rate). He scrambled to his feet and tried to run forward again, but once more was stopped by an invisible wall. He glanced down and yelped as he saw what appeared to be pink fire burning in a straight line, marking the boundary he inexplicably couldn't cross. "What IS this," he yelled as he pounded his fists against the invisible wall, "some kind of video game?!"

Suddenly, he heard the whoosh of the darkness behind him. Sora turned, eyes wide in terror as he pressed himself against the wall, hoping, praying, that it would let him through before he, too, was sucked up into the darkness. The black flames reared into the sky, then started to come crashing down. Sora squeezed his eyes shut, expecting the worst, when—

SHING!

Sora opened one eye and gasped as he saw the dark aura dissipating into the air. Then, he noticed the boy standing before him, his back to Sora. The boy was dressed in white and blue Japanese-style clothes and had bright green eyes and fire-red hair, and was holding a strange spiked wheel in each hand. The spiked wheels disappeared in twin bursts of flame as the boy turned around and crouched down in front of Sora. "Hey," he said in a soft voice, "you okay?"

The boy then sweatdropped as Sora then grabbed him around his waist, sobbing hysterically. "T-tunnel… dark… island… friends… Riku… KAIRIIII!" Sora bellowed. Suddenly, the other boy shoved him off and slapped him across the face, snapping him out of it.

"Look," the other boy said, grabbing Sora by his shoulders, "listen to me. As long as you're roaming around by yourself, you won't be safe in this place, and you won't be able to help your friends."

"H-help them?" Sora said between sniffles. "You mean… they're all right? Where are they?"

"They'll be fine, if we can get to them in time. I'll take you to see them later," the other boy said. "But for now, we have to make sure that _you're_ going to be safe here. We have to go to the bathhouse," said the boy, pointing toward the giant white castle (bathhouse?) floating in the sky, "and you have to ask Xembaba for a job. That's the only way you'll be able to stay here without being swallowed up by the darkness. Got it memorized?"

"G-go to the bathhouse and a-ask Xembaba for a job," Sora repeated dizzily. "I got it."

"Good," said the red-haired boy. He stood up, turned to the side, and held up one hand, palm stretched outward. Suddenly, a portal of darkness rose from the ground in front of him. "I can take you up to the bathhouse," said the boy, "but after that, you're on your own. You'll be okay?"

Sora sniffled again. "I-I—"

"Good," the boy said again. "Now follow me." Without a moment's hesitation, the boy walked forward into the darkness, disappearing from sight. Sora stared at the portal for a moment, then swallowed his nervousness and followed close behind. When both boys had disappeared, the portal flickered out of sight.

Sora wondered what he had gotten himself into.


	2. Mickamaji

**Chapter 2**

**Mickamaji**

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The castle was starting to come alive. Everywhere Sora looked, dark creatures of all shapes and sizes swarmed, pouring in from the edges of the world and making their way to the white castle—or if the red-haired boy's word was to be trusted, bathhouse, although it didn't particularly look like one from the outside. Its name, the boy had said, was "The Bathhouse That Never Was," which Sora found to be a rather funny name, but he was too afraid to say anything about it out loud.

Eventually, the two came to a bridge, which led to the castle's main entrance. "You're going to have to hold your breath as we cross this bridge," the boy said, "otherwise my spell will break and the Heartless will sense your presence. Got it memorized?"

"I—"

"Good," said the boy. "Now come on." Sora clung to the boy's (very skinny) left arm as the boy began to step forward confidently. Sora was trembling, but took the deepest breath he could manage and matched his steps to the other boy's.

At the far end of the bridge, another boy with a blonde mullet was greeting the Heartless as they entered (though none of them paid him an ounce of attention). "Good evening to you, good evening to you, good evening to… oh thank Kingdom Hearts, Master Axel, you're back from your mission! Are you taking the next shift?" the boy said hopefully as Sora and the other boy, whose name was apparently Axel, approached.

"Nope!" Axel said with a big smile, leaving the other boy looking very depressed. "Keep up the good work, Demyx."

"Aww, Axel, come on," Demyx pleaded, "I'll take your next shift after this, I swear! Your next _three_ shifts! Just let me leave early today, pleeease?"

"Sorry, no can do," Axel said, shaking his head. "The boss'd get mad at _me_ then, and we don't want that, right?"

As Demyx continued to beg Axel to take his shift, Sora felt his lungs starting to complain and started praying desperately that Axel would start walking again. He didn't know how much longer he could hold his breath before he exploded. Then, he felt something brush against his leg. He looked down and saw something that resembled a giant humanoid ant with bulging yellow eyes waddle by, not two inches from his foot, its twitching antennae turning every which way. One of the antennae poked Sora in the leg.

Sora screamed.

Instantly, pandemonium broke out. "A human!" Demyx started shouting wildly, which Sora found very confusing considering that Demyx looked rather human himself, "It's a human! Master Axel, you brought a _human—"_

"Oh, shut up," Axel muttered, waving a hand in the air and putting Demyx mysteriously on mute. But they had already caught the attention of the Heartless, who started rushing around in a wild frenzy.

Axel growled, and suddenly the spiked wheels he had been holding earlier burst out of nowhere in two fiery explosions. "I'll distract them!" he yelled at Sora. "Get out of here!"

"No!" Sora cried out. "Don't leave me alone!"

"You don't have a choice," Axel said. "If you want to help your friends, this is what you've got to do. Go down the stairs and get to the boiler room. Tell the man who works there that you want a job. Even if he says no, keep asking! You need to get a job, or Xembaba will turn you into a Heartless!"

Axel had lost Sora at "boiler room." "What?!" Sora shrieked.

"Just go!" Axel yelled. The Heartless were closing in on them. "And don't forget, Sora! I'm your friend!" And with that, he turned, swung one of his chakrams, and sliced a Heartless in half.

Sora yelped and ran toward the castle as fast as his feet could take him. He ran down the stairs that were along the side of the castle wall, searching desperately for a door. Finally, he found one, which he opened and dove through, slamming it shut behind him, not really caring whether this was the room he was supposed to enter or not.

Safely in the room, which seemed rather warm, Sora was trying to catch his breath when he was startled by another voice, which asked in an impossibly high falsetto tone: "Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

Sora wheeled around and found himself face-to-face with a most bizarre sight. Sitting in front of a giant metal contraption and surrounded by pulleys, dials, and leftover fried rice, was a six-armed, soot-covered mouse with ears that stayed round no matter which angle you looked at him. If at all possible, the mouse seemed to be more startled than Sora.

Shoving his nerves into the back of his mind, Sora gulped and shouted, "My name's Sora, and I'm here to get a job from Xembaba so that I can rescue my friends!"

"Really?" the mouse said in that high-pitched voice again. Then he chuckled, making Sora's hopes rise slightly. Maybe this place wasn't so awful after all. "Well, that's too bad, since there's no way someone like you is going to get a job here!" And 'crush' went the hopes.

"Aww, please!" Sora said. "I gotta get a job here! Axel said so!"

"Axel said that?" the mouse said with mild surprise.

"Yeah, what's so strange abou— WHOA!" Sora yelled, suddenly noticing what else was going on in the room. Lines of brooms were walking back and forth across the floor on their bristles, which were shaped like feet, carrying in each hand a bucket full of coal. One by one, they dumped the coal into a huge fire that was burning on one end of the room (which explained why the room was so warm; that huge metal thing in front of the mouse was a boiler, meaning that this was the boiler room after all), then turned around and walked back to the other end to fill their buckets with coal again.

"Oh, those fellows?" the mouse said with a chuckle. "Those are the Broomsuwatari. They help me out here in the boiler room. By the way, my name is Mickamaji," the mouse said, extending one hand across the room to Sora. Sora shook it, feeling more and more dizzy by the minute. "Anyway, I've got to get back to work now, so if you'll excuse me…" With that, Mickamaji turned back to his workstation. At that moment, a wooden tag dropped down from the ceiling. Mickamaji pulled it toward him and examined the writing on it. Without looking, he reached one of his six hands behind himself and toward the far wall, which Sora noticed was covered in square, wooden drawers. Pulling one of the drawers open, the hand searched around inside it until it found what it was looking for—a bunch of herbs.

Before he could ask what the herbs were for, Sora saw one of the Broomsuwatari trip and fall, the contents of its buckets scattering over the floor. The other Broomsuwatari diverted their path to walk around their fallen comrade. Feeling sorry for the broom, Sora walked over to it and started refilling the buckets with the spilled coal.

"Hey!" Mickamaji said, noticing what was going on. "You let them do their work. If they don't work, the spell will wear off and they'll turn back into normal brooms."

"I need a job!" Sora said.

"Hm. Do what you want, but there's no work here for you," Mickamaji said as he turned back to his station, but his eyes lingered curiously on Sora for just a moment longer.

After setting the broom back upright and handing it the buckets back, Sora glanced around and spotted a few extra buckets in the corner of the room. He walked over, grabbed two of them, and got in line with the Broomsuwatari, feeling that as long as he was here, he might as well do something to help.

Mickamaji glanced over. "You're still here?" he said. "I told you there's no work to do."

"I'm… not… leaving…" Sora said between gasps (the coal-filled buckets were heavier than they looked), "until… I… save… my… friends!"

"Hmm," Mickamaji hummed thoughtfully. At that moment, another door opened. Sora nearly dropped the buckets in surprise when a tall dog and a duck, both wearing the pink uniforms of bathhouse workers, appeared in the doorway.

"Mickamaji, we brought your dinn—IT'S THE HUMAN!" the duck squawked, pointing a feathery finger in Sora's direction.

The dog chortled. "So it is!" he said. "So he's working for you, Mickamaji?"

"No," said Mickamaji, "but he _has_ come here to ask Xembaba for a job."

"Xembaba?!" the duck said, laughing. "Didn't you tell him to get lost yet?"

"Why, no," said Mickamaji. "In fact, I was just about to call someone to escort him up to Xembaba's office so that he could properly apply here."

"QUACK!" the duck squawked. "Are you serious?!"

"Of course I'm serious, Donald," Mickamaji replied, a smile on his face. "See, this here's my grandson, and I recommend him one hundred percent. I'm sure he'll do fine wherever Xembaba places him."

Donald glanced back and forth between Mickamaji and Sora. "Your grandson, eh?" he said suspiciously.

The dog laughed. "A-hyuck! I see the resemblance now!" Sora sweatdropped.

"Anyway," Mickamaji said, "He doesn't really know his way around yet, so could you two show him up to Xembaba's office for me? I'm a little busy at the moment."

"I don't know," Donald muttered, crossing his arms. "A human? Working here?"

"I'll do it!" the dog said. "I trust you, Mickamaji, and if you trust him, then so do I!"

Mickamaji laughed. "Thanks, Goofy! Now, move along," he said to Sora, nodding.

"This way, this way," Donald said grumpily, motioning toward the door before walking through it himself. Goofy started to walk through the doorway as well, and Sora, with no other choice, went after them.

"You won't need your shoes," Goofy said to Sora. "Just leave them right here." Sora nodded, removed his shoes, and placed them neatly by the doorway.

"You better thank the boilerman," Donald grumbled. "He's really sticking his neck out for you."

"Ah," Sora said, before turning around and bowing to Mickamaji politely. "Thanks, for everything."

"No problem," said Mickamaji, waving a hand. "Just call me if you need anything." With that, Donald, Goofy, and Sora walked out of the boiler room and into the main part of the castle.


	3. The New Name

**Chapter 3**

**The New Name**

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The castle bathhouse, which had seemed so bleak and intimidating from the outside, was vastly different inside. Everything seemed to be covered in rich colors, brilliant shades of blue and green standing out against the solid red ceiling beams and lustrous gold walls. As Sora looked upward, he saw that the castle was many, many stories high, the central atrium of the building rising straight up to the top. All around him, the scents of different bath herbs and salts floated through the steamy air, a perfume so powerful that it nearly bowled Sora over.

"Stop gawking," Donald grumbled. "Come this way." The duck led Sora to a gilded elevator. "Take this all the way to the top floor," Donald said. "Xembaba's office will be right there. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got work to do," he said, and promptly walked away.

"Good luck!" Goofy said, waving good-bye to Sora before also going on his way.

Sora laughed nervously, and then pulled the lever on the elevator. The doors opened, and he stepped inside.

As he rode the elevator to the top of the building, the noise and bustle of the lower floors faded away until there was nothing left but silence. Finally, the doors sounded a soft 'ding!' and opened, revealing an elegantly decorated room. Sora stepped out from the elevator onto the plush carpet. "Hello?" he called out. "Xembaba?" When no one answered, he walked forward. Spotting a large door, he tiptoed toward it and started to push it open.

Suddenly, the doorknocker began to speak. "Aren't you going to knock?" it demanded.

"Eek!" Sora squeaked, jumping back a few inches.

"What a pathetic little boy," the doorknocker droned. "Well, come in." When Sora didn't move, it frowned and barked, "Come in!" Sora swallowed and opened the door, but before he could step through it, a strange force grabbed him and pulled him in, throwing him down the hallway and into another room, before plopping him down on the floor.

As Sora stumbled to his feet, he realized that the room appeared to be an office. A large, wooden desk sat on the far side of the room, covered with piles of paper and munny. The desk was so cluttered that Sora almost missed the head of spiky silver hair bowed over it.

"How rude," a low voice muttered. Sora felt a chill run up his spine. The head turned, golden eyes looking up at him. Sora nearly keeled over when he realized that the man's head _alone_ was nearly as tall as he was.

"P-pardon?" Sora said.

The figure, which Sora assumed was Xembaba, began to stand up… but for some reason, stopped halfway. Sora was waiting for him to stand up straight when he realized that the man _was_—despite the fact that his head was the same height as Sora's body, the rest of him was the size of a normal person, meaning that his head alone took up half his entire height. Seeing such a ridiculous sight, Sora nearly burst out laughing, until…

"As I was saying, _HOW RUDE TO ENTER A PERSON'S ROOM WITHOUT KNOCKING!!!"_ Xembaba roared with such a volume that Sora was blown to the ground again.

"_WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" _Xembaba bellowed at Sora, stomping around the desk and toward the terrified boy. _"THIS IS NO PLACE FOR HUMANS!"_

"I-I-I-I'm here for a job," Sora stammered.

"_THERE IS NO JOB HERE FOR YOU!"_

"I-I'm here for a job!" Sora shouted, a little louder this time.

"_INTRUDER INTO OUR WORLD! YOUR FRIENDS GOT WHAT WAS COMING TO THEM! AREN'T YOU LISTENING?! THERE IS __**NO—"**_

"_**I'M HERE FOR A JOB!!!" **_Sora bellowed at the top of his lungs, startling both of them.

Suddenly, a voice screeched from the next room over:

"_**WHAT IS ALL THAT RACKET?!"**_

"Oh great, look what you've done!" Xembaba growled. "You've woken the baby!"

"I am not a baby!" the voice yelled.

"Hush, hush, your Superior's coming," Xembaba grumbled, making his way to the back of the office, where a door led to the next room. Sora leaned over, hoping to catch a glimpse of the apparently-not-baby, but he was unable to see anything from where he sat. He sweatdropped as a crash came from next door.

"You're not my Superior! I'm not like those other idiots!" the voice shouted.

"Impertinent brat!" Xembaba could be heard yelling. Another few crashes, and then there was silence. Xembaba stomped back from the room, visibly irritated. He glared at Sora. "Look what you did! All because you're a loud-mouthed idiot!"

Sora chose that moment to again be a loud-mouthed idiot. "I'm not leaving until you give me a job!" he shouted.

Xembaba growled. "Shut up! Or you'll wake him up again! Are you persistent or just stupid?!" he growled. "But I see. You want a job? I'll give you a job. It won't be easy, and it won't be pleasant," he said, waving a hand. A piece of paper and a pen floated off the desk and hovered in front of Sora. "But if you really want it that badly, sign the contract. Do you really want it that badly?"

"Y-yes sir," Sora stammered, even though he wasn't quite sure himself. Nevertheless, he took the pen and carefully scrawled his name across the bottom of the contract. As soon as he was finished writing, the paper flew out of his hands and into Xembaba's.

Xembaba examined the filled-out contract. "Sora, eh?" he said. "What a nice name. For a girl."

"Hey!

"At any rate, it's far too nice for a brat like you. I shall have to take it," Xembaba said with a malicious smirk as he waved a hand over the page. Much to Sora's amazement, the letters floated off the paper and hovered in the air. Xembaba waved his hand across them, causing them to spin wildly in a circle, faster and faster until they were only blurs, when…

"HYAH!" Xembaba shrieked, slashing at the flying letters with a pair of what appeared to be sabers made of light (and simultaneously freaking Sora out even more than he had been previously). The letters froze, scrambled, in midair, a red 'X' hovering in the middle of them.

Sora tilted his head to one side. "'Roxas'?" he said, reading the word out loud.

Xembaba smirked. "That would be you. And that is how you will be referred to while you work for me. You got that? Answer me, Roxas."

Sora—or rather, Roxas, now—nodded slowly. "Roxas…" he said, testing out the sound of the name. It felt strange, as if by using a new name, he was suddenly a different person altogether. And yet, the longer he thought about it, the easier it seemed to come to him, as if he had always been called Roxas, and never anything else.

"So, uh," Roxas said, turning to Xembaba, "what kind of work will I be doing here?"

"Unlike you lowly humans, we of this world sleep during the day," Xembaba said. "At night, when the darkness has risen and the Heartless with it, you shall be put to work in the bathhouse, maintaining the baths and attending to patrons. And in the twilight hours, when neither light nor darkness reigns and the force of nothingness is at its strongest, you shall don the hood of the Organization and slay Heartless until Kingdom Hearts is complete!!" the silver-haired man declared, raising his arms to the sky while thunderclouds billowed and lightning flashed all around.

"Um. Wait." Roxas blinked. "You mean we… serve Heartless at night, but slay them during the evenings?"

"It is for Kingdom Hearts! _FOR KINGDOM HEARTS!!"_ Xembaba bellowed. More lightning flashed.

"Um. Okay."

"Anyway," Xembaba said, regaining his stoic manner while the lightning storm vanished as suddenly as it had appeared.

At that moment, the door to the office opened. Roxas turned, and was overjoyed to see Axel standing in the doorway.

Axel bowed. "You called for me, my Superior?"

"This boy signed a contract," Xembaba said. "Take him with you and see to it that he is properly prepared for work. He starts tomorrow evening."

"Yes, sir," Axel said. He turned to Roxas. Roxas flinched under Axel's gaze. Something about Axel seemed strangely cold. Which was kind of weird, considering that Axel's power appeared to be fire.

"Come with me," Axel said, turning and walking to the elevator. Roxas walked after him.

As the elevator doors closed and the two of them were alone together, Roxas started to say, "Um, Axel…"

But Axel cut him off. "Don't talk to me," he said. "And call me Master Axel."

They rode the rest of the way in silence.


	4. Two Axels

_A/N: Many thanks to zchocolatebunniesrulezworld for reminding me about the existence of sea salt ice cream and the fact that I somehow neglected to use it in this story. Thank you so much. :'D_

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**Chapter 4**

**Two Axels**

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The workers were enraged. "I don't care if Xembaba gets angry with me," one of them, with a scarred face and an eyepatch (what kind of work did Xembaba make them do?!) said flatly. "I'm not taking a human worker."

"Indeed," said another employee, this one with long, wavy pink hair. He (was it a he? Roxas wasn't quite sure) covered his nose with one hand. "He stinks."

"Three days of eating our food, and his smell will go away," Axel said.

Roxas was starting to feel slightly self-conscious.

"And if he doesn't work hard, then roast him, boil him, do whatever you want."

Roxas gaped. _'Wait a minute, what?!'_

"Now get back to work," Axel said, dismissing the two workers who had spoken. "Where are Donald and Goofy?"

Donald squawked. "Huh?! You're not dumping him on us!"

"You said you were in need of an assistant," Axel said, grabbing Roxas's shoulder and pushing him toward the duck and the dog.

"You did say that, Donald!" Goofy chimed in.

"Oh, be quiet, you," Donald grumbled.

"Get going, Roxas," Axel said. Roxas started to walk, but threw one more glance backward at Axel. This time, the look in Axel's eyes softened somewhat.

"You owe me one, Axel!" Donald grumbled. "You hear me?!" But he motioned for Goofy and Roxas to follow him.

"Have a good day!" Demyx, now fully recovered, said cheerfully in their direction.

"Humph!" Donald quacked.

The three of them walked through the maze of workers and baths to the opposite side of the building until they got to the worker's dormitories. As soon as they were in the room and the door safely shut behind them, Donald turned to Roxas, a huge smile on his, er, beak. "I can't believe you did it!" he said excitedly.

"Huh? Wha?" said Roxas.

"You got a job from Xembaba! That's impressive," Goofy pointed out.

"Yeah, you're such a dope that I was worried you weren't going to make it," Donald added as he shuffled over to a large closet and began sorting through piles of uniform pieces. "Here's an apron for you, you'll have to wash it yourself. And pants…" Donald gave Roxas a scrutinizing look. "What are we going to do about a shirt? You're so puny…"

While Donald dug through the closet, Roxas swallowed and turned to Goofy. "Um, Goofy?" he asked. "Do you… know Axel?"

Goofy chuckled nervously. "A-hyuck. Well, yeah. But since you're new, you're probably better off not talking to that guy. He's the second-in-command around here, see. He's mighty powerful."

"Yeah, and mighty troublesome, too," Donald added, holding up another uniform shirt. "Still too big…"

"Troublesome? Really?" Roxas said.

"You bet your blonde hair, he is," Donald muttered. "Axel's not just the second-in-command, he's Xembaba's personal henchman. If you get on his bad side, you'll be in some hot water. And not the nice kind we use in the baths."

"Really," Roxas said.

He must have looked rather down at that, for then Goofy added, "It's not that he's a _bad_ guy. It's just that Xembaba's, kind of, um… controlling his every move."

"_What?"_

"You heard it," Donald said, holding up one more uniform. Apparently satisfied with the fit, he folded it up and handed it to Roxas. The duck shoved the remaining uniforms back into the closet and immediately opened a second one, from which he pulled out a black coat. Adding the coat to the pile of clothes in Roxas's arms, Donald nodded and said, "That should do it for your uniform. At any rate, Xembaba's got Axel's heart pinned under his thumb, so stay clear of both of them if you know what's good for you. You're only a human, after all."

"His… heart?" Roxas repeated, but at that moment the other bathhouse workers had started filing into the room, their work done for the night.

Goofy clapped a hand on Roxas's shoulder. "Time to sleep!" he said cheerfully. "Grab a couple of blankets and find a space for yourself."

Roxas joined the other workers in spreading blankets around the traditional Japanese-style room, changed into the pajamas that had been provided for him, and soon was comfortably tucked in, surrounded by the snores of the others. However, no matter how hard he tried, Roxas simply couldn't fall asleep. He was staring blankly at the ceiling, thinking, about Kairi, about Riku, about—

_Tap! Tap! Tap!_

Roxas sat up and looked at the sliding door. He glanced around, but nobody else seemed to have heard it. Standing up and carefully picking his way around the other workers, he made his way to the door and slid it open a crack. "Hello?" he whispered into the quiet night.

"Hey," an equally soft voice answered, and a pair of green eyes and a smile appeared. "I see you managed to get a job after all. I'm glad."

Roxas returned the smile and slid the door open so that he and Axel were facing each other. "Of course!" he said. "You thought I couldn't?"

Axel chuckled quietly. "Heh. Of course I knew you'd be able to. Anyway." The boy glanced around quickly before he said, "Wake up tomorrow morning and meet me across the bridge. There's something I want to show you."

Roxas nodded. "All right. Good night, Axel."

Axel smiled. "Good night," he said, and pulled the door shut.

Roxas turned and stepped over the other workers, making his way back to his bed. This time, he was able to fall asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

* * *

The sun was shining strongly through the windows when Roxas woke up the next morning. He rubbed his eyes and sat up. Avoiding the rest of the still sleeping workers, he walked over to his small closet and opened it. He pulled out the pink uniform that Donald had given him the night before and slipped it on over the undershirt he had worn as pajamas, noticing with some unease that the clothes he had been wearing when he arrived in this world were gone. He wondered for a moment if they had been thrown away. Shaking his head, he walked to the door and made his way downstairs.

Unsure of which way to go, Roxas traced his steps back the way he had originally come in and soon found himself at the door to Mickamaji's boiler room. As he walked through it, several Broomsuwatari appeared, carrying the oversized shoes that Roxas had been wearing when he first appeared in the building.

"Oh! My shoes," Roxas said. "Thank you." He slipped them on and walked out the door.

This world looked very different during the day, more like a normal city. Even so, it was deathly quiet, which was slightly unsettling. As Roxas walked toward the bridge, he found himself continually glancing around, wondering if anybody besides him was up at this hour.

Then, he spotted someone, standing right on the bridge. Roxas squinted, wondering if it was Axel waiting for him, but as he drew nearer he saw that the figure was much too small to be Axel. The figure was about his height, though he couldn't tell whether it was a girl or a boy. It was dressed in a long black coat, a lot like the one Donald had given him the previous day, with its hood pulled up. All Roxas could see of its face was its nose, mouth, and chin. It was strangely expressionless.

As Roxas passed it on the bridge, he paused in front of it and, in an attempt to be polite, bowed slightly and said, "Good morning."

The figure (he? she? it?) continued to stand there.

"Um…" Roxas said, "are you… waiting for someone?"

"…"

"The bathhouse is, um, closed right now."

"…"

"Y-you'll have to wait until tonight… for it to… open… again…"

"…"

"… I'll… see you around," Roxas said finally, and continued on his way, though not without one backward glance at the strange figure.

The figure turned its head slowly toward Roxas, and then vanished.

On the other side of the bridge, Axel was waiting, a bag over his shoulder. "Hey!" he said, waving a hand as Roxas approached. "Come on, this way," he said as he started walking off.

"A-Axel, wait for me," Roxas said, following.

Axel walked with long, brisk strides, forcing Roxas to half-run in order to keep up. The two made their way down a series of streets that wound their way through the tall buildings. Little by little, the buildings started to get shorter and spaced further apart, until they disappeared entirely and were replaced by… gardens. Gardens full of flowers.

FULL of flowers.

FULL. Of FLOWERS.

FLOWERS OUT THE WAZOO.

I CANNOT STRESS HOW MANY FLOWERS THERE WERE.

Roxas sweatdropped as he found himself suddenly wading through a field of pretty pink petunias. "This is, um, different," he said, glancing over his shoulder at the bleak white City That Never Was that they had just left behind.

"Oh, right. This is Marluxia's land," Axel explained. "The building we're looking for is just… past… here…" Axel pushed past a stand of purple passion flower vines to reveal… a hedge maze.

Roxas stared at the maze and sweatdropped again. "It's like an episode of 'Dora the Explorer.'"

"Yeah… yeah, it is," Axel muttered. "Well, uh… seeing as how this is a _written_ story and we can't really make a description of the two of us taking a walk in a hedge maze full of pretty flowers _not_ be boring as heck, mind if we take a shortcut?" he asked.

"Are you asking me?"

"I'll take that as a yes," Axel said as he held his hands out in front of him, summoned his chakrams, and created a burst of fire so huge that it leveled the entire hedge maze and revealed the barn-like building that stood on the other side.

Back in the dorms, Marluxia sat up and screamed until Xaldin also woke up and hit him into next week.

It was a single-story barn, open to the air and filled with hundreds of animal pens. But as Roxas approached, he saw that it wasn't really animals in the pens, but…

"Heartless!" Roxas exclaimed. And it was true. Swarming around inside the building were hundreds, maybe thousands, of Heartless. Roxas turned to Axel. "What are you keeping them here for?"

"Mainly so that Vexen can use 'em in experiments," Axel said. "And, uh, I dunno, maybe we could eat them or something, if we got desperate enough." Roxas sweatdropped. "But anyway, this isn't all I wanted to show you. Follow me," Axel said as he motioned for Roxas to keep walking.

Roxas followed Axel around the corner of the building, where they got to one pen that seemed larger than the others. At first, it appeared to be empty, but as they got closer Roxas could see two small figures, lying flat on their backs in the straw…

"Riku!" Roxas shouted, recognizing one. "And Kairi!" He ran to the side of the pen and clambered up the wooden fencing, staring at the two. Neither seemed to be hurt, but they were certainly unconscious, and both were surrounded by the same dark auras that had chased them earlier.

But they were breathing, and that was all Roxas needed to see.

"They're all right," he said weakly as Axel approached. "But why are they sleeping?"

"Most people who wander into our world are immediately taken under the control of the darkness, and lose their hearts," Axel said. "When that happens, they turn into Heartless. But your friends wouldn't let go of their hearts, so now they're stuck this way, caught in an internal battle with the darkness. The darkness is having a hard time taking control of your friend Kairi, because she has a pure heart with no darkness in it to begin with. There's nothing for the darkness to latch onto, so she's able to fight back and keep it at bay."

"And what about Riku?" Roxas asked.

"It's because he's a pigheaded—" Axel called Riku something that couldn't be printed in a PG-rated story. "But that makes him strong. He's fighting back the darkness with simple brute force. His heart is strong enough to repel the darkness on its own."

"So what are they doing here?" Roxas asked. "If they can't be turned into Heartless, why is Xembaba keeping them?"

"Your friends' hearts are more powerful that most people's," Axel said. "If Xembaba can find a way to make them lose their hearts, then Kingdom Hearts will come to full power much sooner. At least, that's what he thinks, anyway. As soon as he finds a way to forcibly take your friends' hearts…"

"No!" Roxas shouted. "He can't have them! He can't _do _that!"

"So we need to find a way to stop him," Axel said simply.

Roxas looked down. Suddenly, everything seemed to be too much. Here he was, away from home, trapped in a world he didn't understand, his friends in danger… it was too much. Despite his best efforts, tears started to roll down his face.

Axel looked at Roxas sadly. "Come here," he said, putting one hand gently on Roxas' shoulder and leading him to a clearing of grass where they could sit (they would have sat against the hedge, but that was burned down now).

Axel opened up his shoulderbag and brought out two blue ice creams. "Eat one," he said as he handed one to Roxas.

"I'm not hungry," Roxas said as he curled his knees up to his chest and folded his arms across them. He buried his face in his arms. "And it's _blue."_

Axel shook his head and shoved the ice cream at Roxas. "It'll give you your strength back and make you feel better," he said. "Now eat it."

Slowly, Roxas lifted his head and held out a hand to take the ice cream. He didn't want it, he didn't want anything else to do with this world, but slowly, he lifted the ice cream to his mouth and took a bite. After the initial shock of cold, he found that it was good; somehow salty, but sweet at the same time. Roxas found himself taking another bite, and then another, letting the ice cream melt away in his mouth slowly to enjoy the taste, until finally the whole ice cream was gone. When it was finished, he found that he did feel much better.

"And I have this for you, too," Axel said, reaching into the shoulderbag one more time and pulling out the clothes that Roxas had been wearing when he first arrived.

"My clothes!" Roxas said. "I thought they were thrown away."

"You'll need them in order to return home," Axel said. "One more thing. Look at the label."

Roxas opened the collar of the T-shirt and glanced at the label inside. "'100% Cotton. Machine Washable,'" he read.

"The other side."

"Oh." Roxas flipped the label up and read the writing that looked like it had been put there by a mother whose son might have been a bit of an idiot. "It says, 'Sora.' Wait a minute… 'Sora,'" he said, suddenly remembering something. "That's my name! 'Sora'!" Roxas smiled at the realization, but the smile quickly turned to a look of horror. "How… how could I forget my own name?"

"That's how Xembaba keeps control of you," Axel said softly. "He takes your name, and your memory with it. If you forget your name, you'll never be able to get back to your world."

"Axel," Roxas said, "is that what happened to you?"

Axel nodded. "I had another name, a long time ago," he said. "But now, I can't remember what it was, or where I came from, or who I used to be. So I'm trapped here."

"I… I see. I'm sorry," Roxas said.

There was a second of silence, until Axel said, a smile on his face, "Hey, hey, don't look so sad! I've got a pretty good life here, after all. Besides, I have you as a friend now, don't I?"

Roxas looked up at Axel, and nodded. "Yeah. Of course."

Axel stared at Roxas. "You know, when I look at you, I get the strangest feeling that we've met somewhere before…"

The two sat there, looking silently at each other, until they realized that this scene could go _so_ wrong in _so_ many ways, so they broke eye contact, coughed awkwardly, and hurriedly stood up to head back to the Bathhouse That Never Was (while a million fangirls shrieked in protest).

As they walked back, Roxas asked, "So, uh… since I know my real name now, should I use it instead of the one Xembaba gave me?"

"Nah," Axel said. "It's best not to let Xembaba know that you've remembered it. Don't give it out thoughtlessly to people, either. A name is a powerful thing, especially in this world. Anyway, I'll know who you are, and you'll know who you are, so that ought to be good enough. Sounds all right?"

"Yeah. Sounds good." And the conversation could have ended right then and there, without any horrifically embarrassing moments for either of the boys, but it had to be remembered that Roxas, after all, was Sora, and Sora was rather dumb.

"Say, Axel?"

"Yeah?"

"Why… did you have my clothes, anyway?"

"…"

"…"

"… uh, you see…"

"Never mind."


	5. Work

**Chapter 5**

**Work**

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.

.

Roxas slept the rest of the day, until he was awoken at twilight by the other workers. "Here, put this on," Donald said, holding out Roxas's black coat, "and meet everyone in the Grey Room in twenty minutes."

Roxas changed into the black coat and, after some difficulty, located the Grey Room (which, after all the other rooms that were bright red and gold, certainly looked very, very gray). Xembaba was not there, but the other workers that Roxas had seen earlier were. Axel was there as well, but as expected, he didn't acknowledge Roxas at all.

At the front of the room, standing before a wall composed entirely of tall glass windows, stood a man with an X-shaped scar on his forehead and blue hair, holding a stack of papers. "That's Saïx. He's in charge of giving out the missions," Goofy explained quickly.

"You, new boy," Saïx said. Roxas snapped to attention. "You will be following Axel, until it can be determined what your abilities are."

"What, me?" Axel said, sounding bored. "What am I, a babysitter?"

"Xembaba's orders," Saïx replied. "Even you aren't exempt from them."

"Fine, fine," Axel said, shaking his head. "Give me the mission and we'll be on our way."

"Your mission is to collect hearts in Twilight Town," Saïx read off his paper. "That is all."

"Heart duty, eh?" Axel said. "Not too bad. Come on, Roxas," he said, creating a portal right there in the room and walking into it. Roxas followed.

"Aaaawww, I gotta chase down the Emerald Serenade _again?!"_ Demyx whined.

* * *

Axel and Roxas were surrounded by Heartless on all sides. Axel was mowing through them left and right, but Roxas was rather at a loss.

"Axel!" Roxas shrieked. "What am I supposed to _do?!"_

"Destroy them!" Axel yelled back as he tore through another Large Body.

"With _what?!"_

"Haven't you got a weapon?!"

"NO!" Roxas yelled. He grabbed a stick that had been lying on the ground and whacked a Shadow over the head with it with such force that the stick snapped in half and the Shadow fell to the ground, twitching. Roxas squeaked in terror as a cloud of Possessors started closing in on him.

Axel growled, jumped in front of Roxas, and destroyed all of the Possessors in one shot. With the Heartless mostly gone, Axel plopped back onto the ground. "Sheesh!" he sighed. "Teaming up with you isn't any better than taking on missions by myself!"

"Sorry," Roxas muttered. "It's not my fault that I don't have a weapon. Nobody gave me one."

"Yeah, but the thing is, nobody's supposed to _have_ to give you one," Axel pointed out. "I mean, look at this." He held his hand out, and a chakram appeared in a burst of flame. "Nobody had to give me this. And everyone else is the same as me."

"Well, I must be different," Roxas said.

"Must be." Axel sighed. "We'll just have to find you a weapon sometime, I guess."

"Yeah. Sticks don't really cut it," Roxas said as he picked up another one and flung it at a Shadow they'd managed to overlook. "Why are there so many of these guys around, anyway?"

"Huh. I don't know. Though I do remember somebody saying something about, when there's a whole bunch of Pureblood Heartless around…" Axel scratched his head in thought. Suddenly, his eyes widened. "Oh crap! I remember now!"

"Remember what?"

But Axel didn't have time to explain, because at that moment a Darkside rose out of the ground four feet away.

"_OHHHHH CRAAAAAAAP!!!"_

_

* * *

_

Roxas was put on Emblem duty for an indefinite amount of time.

* * *

"Gaaah," Roxas sighed as he hung up his coat for the night. "Is running the bathhouse as hard as doing missions?"

"Sometimes," Donald said. "Depends on how busy we are." Roxas sighed again.

"Great."

"Well, come on, a-hyuck," Goofy said as he walked by with a mop and a bucket. "Time to go clean the bathhouse! A-hyuck, isn't that kind of funny?"

"Hilarious," Donald said dryly as he walked past.

With a cleaning cloth in one hand and a bucket of water in the other, Roxas proved to be a deadly force. People ran screaming from him as he ran along the floor, pushing the wet cloth in front of him, as he tried to scrub the dirt from the ground but succeeding more in running over everybody, whether they were in his way or not.

"Uh, here," Donald said as he snatched the cloth out of Roxas's hands, "why don't you go empty the dirty water out of the buckets for the rest of us?"

As Roxas walked away, a full bucket in each hand and his face rather pink, Axel passed by and whispered, "Maybe we ought to have you dual wield a rag and a bucket, huh?"

"Sh-shut up," Roxas hissed back.

Roxas walked to one of the sliding paper doors that led to the outside (there were sliding doors in this castle?) and opened it with his bare foot. As he knelt to dump the water onto the ground outside, he noticed the figure in the black coat that he had seen earlier this morning, standing several yards away.

"Oh, hello," Roxas said. "We're not quite open yet. Can you come back later?"

"…" The figure didn't say anything, or move at all.

"…" Roxas blinked, then glanced back and forth. He dumped out the last bucket, got up, and said, "I-I'll just leave this door open for you. Is that all right?"

"…"

The figure didn't respond, so Roxas decided that it was, and walked away.

After a few minutes of not moving, the figure took one step toward the door, then another, before slowly turning invisible.

When the figure next appeared, it was halfway through the door.

* * *

When Roxas got back to Donald and Goofy, the duck was throwing a fit. "Whaddya mean, we gotta clean the big tub?!" he quacked irritably.

"Boss's orders," Demyx replied, a cheeky smile on his face (which quickly vanished when Donald smacked him with the mop handle).

"Are you kidding?! That thing hasn't been cleaned in weeks!" Donald fumed. He turned to Roxas. "It's all because of you that they're making us do this!"

"Now, now, Donald," Goofy said, trying to settle the irate bird down, "it's just a job, same as any other…"

"QUACK!" Donald said, crossing his arms. "I know, I know. But that doesn't mean I have to like it." He stomped off, Goofy and Roxas close behind.

Roxas could smell the big tub before they got to it. "Pee-yew," he said, holding his nose.

"Pee-yew is right," Goofy said, wrinkling his snout.

Donald wished that the myth that birds can't smell was true. He sighed as he looked over the wall of the tub at the sludge caked there. "We'll never be able to get all this off by hand in one night. Roxas, go get an herbal soak token," he said.

"A what?"

"Just go ask the foreman. He'll know what I mean." Donald clambered into the tub and got to work trying to scrub the dirt off the walls while Goofy started on the outside.

Roxas took off to the front door, where Heartless customers were already pouring in. It took all he had not to pass out on the spot.

"Um, Mr. Foreman, sir?" Roxas said to Demyx, who was still on greeting duty but at least was inside the building today.

"Good evening to you, what kind of bath would you like to order today? Ah, I see, nice choice… what do you want, kid?" Demyx said.

"I… Donald sent me to get an herbal soak token," Roxas said.

"Too bad, kid. Tokens are for customers only. Here you go, good sir," Demyx said as he handed a red, rectangular wooden token to a Yellow Nocturne as it whizzed by.

"B-but we need one!" Roxas said.

"I said, too bad!" Demyx repeated, and he continued to go about his business. Roxas pouted and turned around to head back to Donald, empty-handed.

Little did he know that over Demyx's shoulder, a figure in black was stealthily sneaking wooden tokens out of the drawer.

Roxas was halfway back to Donald when somebody tapped him on the shoulder. "Yes?" he said, turning around, only to be confronted by… the figure in the black coat! Suddenly, much to Roxas's surprise, the figure held out a red token that Roxas recognized as what Demyx had been handing out to customers.

"Oh, wow, thanks!" he said as he took it, flashing a smile. The figure in black blushed and nodded. Then, it reached into its sleeves, pulling out four more tokens.

"Um…" Roxas scratched the back of his head. "Thanks, but I really only need the one." The figure held the tokens out to Roxas, so Roxas sighed and took the rest, shoving them into his pockets. "I gotta get going," he said, turning around. "Thank you!"

The figure watched Roxas leave, then disappeared…

* * *

Donald looked at the token Roxas brought him. "Wow, this is a good one," he said, turning it over and examining it. "How'd you get Demyx to give you this?"

"Well—"

"Never mind, that's not important. Anyway, this is how it works," Donald said. Walking to a spot on the wall, Donald pulled on one of the boards, revealing a hidden compartment with a string inside. "Hook the token on the string like this, pull it once, and let go. It'll go to the boiler room, and Mickamaji will send us up the water," Donald explained as he went through the actions. As the token disappeared, a wooden spout appeared from higher up on the wall, with a pull string attached. "Then, pull on this string, and the water will pour into the bathtub. When it's done, yank on the string again, and the spout will go up and the water will stop. Got it?"

"Uh-huh," Roxas said, walking over, climbing onto the edge of the tub and standing on it, and pulling on the string. Sure enough, the spout fell the rest of the way down and hot water started pouring out of it, filling the tub and working away at the sludge that coated the inside.

"Great!" said Goofy. "After it's full, we'll let it soak for a while and then clean it up. Sounds good?"

"Yeah!" Roxas said as he held onto the string.

"Let's go get something to eat," Donald said, walking away. Goofy followed.

"Shouldn't we tell him that he doesn't have to hold onto the string the whole time?" Goofy asked Donald.

"Nah, just leave him there," Donald said. "It'll keep him out of trouble."

Meanwhile, Roxas clung cluelessly and happily to the string, finally glad that things seemed to be going well for once.

* * *

But not for long.


	6. The Stink Spirit

**Chapter 6**

**The Stink Spirit**

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.

.

Upstairs, Xembaba was carefully counting his munny and going once more over his evil plans, when suddenly he felt a disturbance in the Force—I mean, a strong presence approaching. He stepped back from his desk and walked to the window, peering out at the darkened world below.

Suddenly, he saw it—or smelled it, he wasn't quite sure which one first.

Then, a worker with blue hair draped over one eye walked into Xembaba's room. "There's a stink spirit on the bridge, Superior!" he said. "What should we do?"

"Turn it back!" Xembaba shouted. "It's not a Heartless or a Nobody, so it's useless to us. All it'll do is stink up the place and delay my plans for Kingdom Hearts!"

Zexion ignored the lightning flashing around. He bowed slightly and said, "Yes, my Superior. As you say." With that, he turned around and returned to the ground floor to inform the other workers of Xembaba's decision.

* * *

Unfortunately, turning the stink spirit back was easier said than done. The mass of brown slime, looking like a huge (ahem) dump and not smelling much better, simply could not be stopped. Worker after worker charged after it, trying to convince it, peacefully or otherwise, to change its course, but it simply would not budge.

The stink spirit crawled along the path to the bathhouse, leaving a trail of sludge behind it and taking out all the workers who tried to stop it. It burst through the front doors, sending people and Heartless scattering in all directions.

"What is going on?!" Donald quacked, carrying the tray of food in his hands. Suddenly, the blast of stink hit him. He quacked in dismay as the food on the tray rotted instantly from the smell.

"Donald!" Goofy yelled. "It's a stink spirit! And it's headed toward the big tub!"

"QUACK!" Donald screeched. "Roxas!" Dropping the tray, he took off for the big tub.

Roxas was still hanging onto the string. "Yuck!" he said, suddenly smelling something wretched and wondering if it was the smell of the dirt coming loose from the tub. But then, the stink spirit appeared in the doorway of the bathtub stall.

"Eeeeek!" Roxas shrieked as the stink spirit made its way toward him, accidentally yanking on the string, causing the water to stop and the spout to go back up into the wall. Losing his grip as the string slid out of his hands, he slipped and fell off the edge of the tub and onto the ground. When he landed, the extra bath tokens fell from his pockets, scattering with a clatter over the floor. He scooped them up into his arms and tried to find a path to get away, but the green-brown ooze blocked his path no matter which direction he tried. He was forced to back up against the wall as the stink spirit edged closer.

The stink spirit crawled up the sides of the tub and plunged in, turning the previously clear water brown with mud. It sighed in relief, but then frowned. It lifted its two tiny mud arms up out of the water, then crawled to the side, toward Roxas. It made a low sound, as if it were asking for something.

Roxas was simply trying not to pass out from the stench of the stink spirit's breath when suddenly it hit him. "You… do you want more water?" he asked. The stink spirit nodded. "O-okay, just give me a moment."

By this point, Xembaba had come down from his office to observe the intruder. "So, Roxas is facing it on his own, hm?" he said, watching the scene with one raised eyebrow. "What do you suppose he intends to do?"

Axel, who was standing to the right of his Superior, shrugged. "Don't ask me."

Roxas was slogging through the mud, which was now up to his knees. He reached the panel in the wall and tried to pull it open, but his muddy fingers slipped on the wood. He pounded on it with one fist, causing it to burst open and smack him in the face. Rubbing the sore spot, he pulled out one of the bath tokens that he was holding.

Xembaba frowned from where he stood on the balcony. "Where did he get that?"

Axel shrugged again. "Like I said, don't ask me."

Roxas carefully clipped one of the bath tokens onto the string, pulled, and let it go. The string and the token vanished, and the water spout lowered from the wall, just like before. Dropping the rest of the bath tokens, Roxas climbed up the side of the bathtub, which was now coated in more sludge than before, grabbed the rope, and yanked on it. Unfortunately, Roxas being the clumsy boy he was, he managed to fall into the tub as well.

As the water diluted the mud, Roxas found that he was able to move about more easily. As he floundered, trying to find the edge of the tub, his arm got tangled in what felt like a string.

At that moment, Donald and Goofy got to the bathtub stall. "Roxas!" Donald shouted. "Are you there?!"

Roxas managed to get his head above water. "I'm okay!" he yelled. "But my arm's tangled up. I think this guy is caught in a rope or something!"

"A rope?" Donald said. "Well, let's see if we can get it off of him." Donald and Goofy rushed forward and grabbed onto Roxas as best they could. Roxas took hold of the rope in both hands and started to try and pull it free from the mud. Meanwhile, the water was washing away the mud in increasing amounts.

Xembaba narrowed his eyes. "That doesn't seem like a stink spirit," he said. "It's some other type of creature. I wonder what it is."

Axel, once again, shrugged. "Don't ask—"

"Say that one more time and you'll be a Dusk."

"Ah. Got it, your Superiority."

"And heave! And heave! And heave!" Donald chanted.

As Roxas pulled on the rope, he could feel it coming free of the stink spirit's mud body. As the water flowed over it, he saw that it was not a rope at all, but a length of red bandage, with black belts tied up in it. As the amount of bandage that had come free grew longer, he passed the end to Donald, who passed it to Goofy. All the while, the stink spirit appeared to be melting into the water.

Finally, they came to the last tangle of bandages. "On three!" Donald shouted. "One! Two!"

And on "three," the trio pulled as hard as they could, and the tangle came loose, and everything exploded in a geyser of clear water.

Roxas tumbled head over heels backward, carried by the current of the water. He felt two objects fall into his hands, one small and light, the other much heavier. When the water receded, he coughed and choked, rubbing the water out of his eyes as he opened them.

And suddenly, everything was still. The water had stopped flowing and was now as clear and flat as a mirror's surface. And hovering just above the water was the head of an old man, with a blonde beard and mustache, and long blonde hair. He looked very, ahem, wise.

Not going to lie, Roxas was slightly freaked out by the floating head.

Floating Head turned to Roxas, nodded once, and said, "Good job." Then, it turned away, toward…

"KINGDOM HEARTS!!!" Xembaba suddenly bellowed, causing Axel to fall over in shock. Xembaba leapt over the edge of the balcony, drawing both Ethereal Blades and aiming them directly at Floating Head. Floating Head dodged to the side and dove back into the water. Xembaba snarled and backed up, hovering over the ground slightly.

The water exploded once more, and Floating Head reappeared, this time with an entire body, shaped like a dragon's, made out of water. He charged at Xembaba, who had the Ethereal Blades ready. There was an EPIC CLASH.

Axel appeared by Roxas's side and helped him stand up. "This wasn't in the original movie," Roxas remarked as he got to his feet.

"You got that right," Axel agreed. "So what did the floating head give you?"

Roxas looked at the smaller of the two items. "Um. A yellow star-shaped fruit, and…" he glanced at the other, "a gigantic key."

"A Keyblade?!" Xembaba exclaimed, turning to look. Unfortunately, Floating Head took the opportunity to strike, blasting Xembaba across the room. Then, Floating Head took off, flying up through the building. On one of the upper floors, he crashed through one of the windows, shattering the glass as he took off into the night sky, directly toward…

"KINGDOM HEARTS!!! NOOOOO!!!" Xembaba screeched.

Floating Head charged toward Kingdom Hearts, a silver streak of light in the sky. Everyone watched in shocked silence as the light pierced Kingdom Hearts, shattering it and sending it floating down in billions of tiny, heart-shaped pieces.

"_NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"_ Xembaba screamed, falling to his short little knees. "Everything I have worked for! You!" he shouted, turning and pointing at Roxas. "It is because of _you_ that this has happened! And—"

But suddenly, Xembaba remembered why he had lost the fight against Floating Head in the first place. "That's right," he said. "The Keyblade. That man may have held the title of 'the Wise,' but in the end, he was a fool. The Keybearer is now within my grasp!"

Roxas blinked. "Keybearer?"

"That would be you," Xembaba said coolly. "You are the wielder of the Keyblade, whose purpose it is to slay Heartless. With your power, Kingdom Hearts shall soon rise again!" The bathhouse was filled with the sound of cheers.

"Hooray for the Keyblade! Hooray for Roxas!" everybody shouted.

Roxas had absolutely no clue what was going on, but the words "hooray" and "for" used in conjunction with the word "Roxas" had to be a good thing.

The party lasted long into the night. Roxas found that the Keyblade vanished after a short while, but he could summon it to his hand as easily as Axel summoned his chakrams. Glad to have a weapon of his own, he retired to the dorm room happily.

But as he sat on the balcony, legs dangling over the edge and the city sprawled out below, Roxas couldn't help but feel a little sad. Here he was, happy and celebrating, while his friends were trapped in their own battles against the darkness.

He pulled out the star-shaped fruit that Floating Head had given to him. As he examined it, Donald and Goofy approached and sat on either side of him.

"Here, I grabbed you some food from the party," Donald said, handing Roxas a steamed pork bun. "What's that you got there?"

"Some kind of fruit. The floating head man gave it to me," Roxas said.

"A-hyuck! That's a paopu fruit," Goofy said, pointing at it. "It's said to have magical powers."

"Powers?" Roxas murmured. "I wonder if it could help my friends." Curious, he took a nibble of it, and discovered the reason why paopu fruits, despite being so widely revered and believed to be wonderful magical bringers of miracles, not to mention so common you can barely walk across the beach (or a convention) without stepping on one, are not actually eaten very often.

They taste like crap.

As Roxas gagged and wolfed down the pork bun in an attempt to get rid of the horrid sensations currently attacking his mouth, Goofy sweatdropped and attempted to change the subject.

"So, uh, I wonder why that floating head guy was so muddy and stuff?"

The three sat in silence, gazing out at the starry sky, lost in thought.

Roxas suggested, "Maybe it was 'cause he was a dirty old man."

The stars twinkled brightly.

"Hmmm. That wasn't very funny."

"Yeah, I know."

* * *

Later, after everyone else had gone to sleep, Demyx decided to go snooping around the big tub, searching for any tidbits that might have been left behind.

"Paopu, paopu, are there any more paopus?" he hummed to himself as he searched the floor. Suddenly, he heard a thud from behind him. Looking around, he spotted what he had been looking for—a paopu fruit, yellow and ripe, lying on the ground. "Ooh!" he squealed as he rushed over to it.

What Demyx, of all people, needed a paopu fruit for, is not worth questioning.

As Demyx ooh-ed and aah-ed over his treasure, something hit him on the head and bounced to the floor. Wincing, he looked down… and spotted yet another fruit!

"H-hey, who's up there?!" he said, looking upward, his chronic cowardice kicking in. He was surprised to see a figure in a black coat perched on top of the bathtub stall wall, holding out a third paopu fruit.

"Oh! So you're giving them out too, huh?" Demyx said, still not entirely at ease but glad to have found the source of the paopus. "Would you… mind giving me a couple more?"

In a few moments, Demyx was crushed under the weight of dozens of paopus, seemingly magicked out of the air. "W-wow," he said, grinning. "That's amazing. I don't suppose you could make Keyblades too, huh?"

Imagine Demyx's utter shock when the figured held out a hand, from which a silver-and-gold colored Keyblade, identical to the one Roxas had received, appeared. The figured waved the Keyblade about for a few moments, and then dropped it, letting it clatter to the ground.

"Holy Halloween Town!" Demyx exclaimed, clambering out of the pile of paopus and grabbing the hilt of the Keyblade. "You _can_ make Keyblades too!"

"Eeeeh… eeeeh…" the figure murmured. It held out its hand and produced yet _another_ Keyblade, this one pretty and girly and covered in flowers.

"Ooh! Pretty!" Demyx said, reaching for it.

Then the figure swallowed him.


	7. The Witch

**Chapter 7**

**The Witch**

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Roxas woke up fairly early the next day, but much to his surprise, the dorm was entirely vacant except for him. "Where is everybody?" he said, scratching his head. Getting up, he walked over to the balcony, where he spotted steam rising from the boiler room.

"Mickamaji lit the boiler already?" Roxas said in surprise. "How long have I been asleep?"

At that moment, Donald walked into the dorm. "Roxas!" he said. "I was just coming to wake you up. Look at this!"

Roxas nearly fell over when Donald held out a Keyblade, this one all swirly and magic-looking and with a mage's hat for the keychain. "A-a Keyblade?!" he said.

"Yeah!" Donald replied. "There's a customer here who's handing them out to everyone and their grandma! Everyone's serving him and hoping to get one. You should come too!"

"Yeah, but I've already got a Keyblade," Roxas pointed out, summoning it to his hand just to prove his point.

"But if you get another one, maybe you can learn to dual wield or something crazy like that," Donald said. "Anyway, come on! Let's get going before Xembaba wakes up."

"Um, no thanks," Roxas said, shrugging. "I think I'll go look for Axel."

"Sheesh, it's always Axel this, Axel that. What, are you in love with him or something?" Donald grumbled.

"What?! No! I—"

"Hey, Donald!" Goofy said, poking his head in the doorway (Roxas sweatdropped when he saw that Goofy had _three_ Keyblades). "Are you coming back down?"

"You bet," Donald said, walking toward the door. "Well, do what you want," he said to Roxas before disappearing down the staircase.

Roxas turned back to the balcony. "Where is Axel? He needs to come get me so I can go save my friends," he murmured.

Suddenly, Roxas spotted something flying in the distance. "What is that?" he wondered out loud, using his hand to shield his eyes from the sun as he stared at it.

As the flying thing got closer, Roxas could see that it was a dragon, with a snakelike body, red scales, a bright red, spiky mane of hair, small licks of flame emitting from its mouth, and really, really skinny arms.

"Axel!" Roxas shouted. "Axel, over here!"

But as Axel flew even closer, Roxas could see that something was attacking him. Small white things—birds?—were flitting around him, cutting at him and causing him to bleed.

"Axel! _Axel!"_ Roxas called out. He clenched his teeth and fists. "Oh, no, he's hurt," he said. Climbing onto the balcony railing, Roxas waved his hands in the air over his head, shouting, "Axel! Axel, this way! Fly this way!"

Axel must have heard him, for in seconds the dragon was flying straight toward Roxas, crashing through the open door. Roxas slammed the door shut, causing the white things to crash into the panes and get stuck. Now that he saw them up close, Roxas could see that they were made of paper, cut into shapes that resembled people, with little faces drawn in crayon.

Roxas turned his attention to Axel, who was lying on the floor, breathing heavily and bleeding from numerous cuts along his body. "Hold still," he said, placing his hands on Axel's face, getting blood on his hands in the process, "I've got a fruit… it's supposed to be powerful… maybe it'll help…"

But suddenly, Axel's bright green eyes snapped open, and he took off once more, flying back outside. Roxas ran back out to the balcony just in time to see Axel fly into the uppermost window, into Xembaba's office.

"Axel!" Roxas yelled in frustration. "Argh!" he growled, heading back inside the room, trying to avoid stepping in Axel's blood, "I've gotta get to him before he bleeds to death!"

* * *

Roxas managed to ascend exactly two stairs before he was thrown into the chaos of what was happening on the ground floor.

Workers were running everywhere, carrying huge plates of food. The kitchens were working at full steam, churning out meals so fast that Roxas wondered how they hadn't run out of ingredients already. A chant was going on in the next room, which went something like:

"Welcome the Key man,

"He's hard for you to miss!

"His butt keeps getting bigger,

"So there's plenty there to kiss!

"Everybody bow down!" Larxene announced in that type of voice that made you really, really not want to disobey.

"Welcome, Key man!" the crowd of workers shouted as they bowed.

And that was when Roxas saw it for the first time—a huge, robotic looking monster, covered in metallic, spiky armor with pants that were far too puffy and feet that were way too oversized. As it gobbled down the plates of food, it waved its arms in the air. Keyblades of all shapes and sizes poured from its hands, which the workers dove to grab.

Still, he had to get to Axel, so he pushed his way as best he could through the crowd, until Luxord grabbed him by the collar. "Where do you think you're going, little man?" he asked.

"I'm going upstairs!" Roxas said, struggling.

"No you're not… hey, wait, is that _blood_ on you?!" Luxord exclaimed, letting go just enough for Roxas to wriggle free.

Suddenly, the Key man (or whatever they were calling it) noticed Roxas. It started to push its way through the crowd toward him.

Roxas turned to it, and suddenly noticed—there was a black coat, still tiny sized, hanging from shoulder. "Is… is that you?" he said. The figure nodded.

Roxas smiled. "Thank you for helping me, earlier."

Under its metal mask, the figure seemed to smile, and held out its hands, which produced two Keyblades, one white and one black.

Roxas's smile faded, and he shook his head. "No thank you," he said. "I've already got one. And, I'm in a hurry," he said. "A friend of mine is in trouble. I'm in a really big hurry, so if you'll excuse me…" With that, Roxas darted away through the crowd.

The figure stared after Roxas, dropping the two new Keyblades to the ground (which the workers dove for immediately). "Eeehh… eeehhh!" it called after Roxas.

"You'll have to excuse the boy," Marluxia said, drifting to the figure's side, "he's just a human. Now, about those Keyblades…"

"Wipe that stupid smile off your face," the figure growled in Demyx's voice.

"U-uh, what?"

"You're still smiling!" the figure roared, before grabbing Marluxia and eating him.

Everybody screamed.

* * *

The elevator was completely blocked, so Roxas scrambled up the stairs as far as he could. When he could climb no more, he found a window, opened it, and crawled outside and onto the roof, taking the shortest route he could find to the room where Axel had flown inside.

When he found a window on the right floor, he tried to open it with his hands, but failing that, used one of his oversized feet to bust it open. Roxas swung through, avoiding the glass, when suddenly, he overheard Xembaba's voice.

The Superior was speaking on the telephone. "It's a huge mess," he growled. "I know who the customer is, it's XioNo Face. Aaargh, first Kingdom Hearts, now this. Who let that thing in here?!"

Roxas gulped.

Xembaba snarled at someone, "It's all your fault. You're such a failure, you can't help but attract other failures, too." If he was talking to someone in the room, that person didn't respond. Xembaba turned back to the telephone, "All right, all right, I'm on my way. Don't let it eat anyone else before I get there." Xembaba slammed the telephone down, then made a disgusted noise. "Ugh. Somebody take care of Axel, he's bleeding all over the carpet. He'll be dead soon anyway. Just push him down the trash chute."

As soon as Xembaba was out of the room, Roxas dashed in. "Axel!" he cried, spotting his friend on the floor, lying dangerously close to a large pit that was there for some reason. But just before he made it out of the room he was in, he tripped over something. Or rather, some_one._

"Waah!" Roxas cried out as he fell to the floor. It was then that he noticed that this was the room that Xembaba had walked into before, when Roxas was first applying for a job, and gotten into an argument with somebody. It was a very plain room, with white walls, a white floor, and white ceiling. It looked rather like a prison.

Then Roxas glanced at the person he had tripped over, and gaped. It was Riku. But instead of Riku's normal, blue and blinding-yellow clothes, this Riku was wearing a skin-tight, dark blue and black suit, which for some reason had a white skirt-looking thing around the waist as well.

As Roxas tried to get over the shock of seeing somebody who looked just like Riku wearing a skirt-thing, "Riku" woke up. He rubbed his head and muttered, "What's going on? Where am… XEMBABA!" he shouted as he jumped to his feet, startling Roxas. "Where is he?! Where is that idiot?!" Then, Riku spotted Roxas on the ground. Glaring, Riku pointed a finger. "Who are you?! Has he sent you to fight me?!"

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa!" Roxas yelled, waving his hands. "I'm not here to fight you! I'm here to save my friend!"

"Your friend?" Riku said. "Who?"

"H-him," Roxas said, pointing into the next room where he could see Axel bleeding all over everything. "Axel." Suddenly, he noticed three Dusks and a Creeper crawling toward Axel. "Hey!" he shouted. "Leave him alone!"

"You're friends with Axel?!" Riku said, his eyes narrowing as he jumped back. In a flash, a black, blue, and red sword-looking Keyblade appeared in his hand.

Of all the Keyblades Roxas had seen, this was the most vicious-looking of them all.

"Whoa! Wait! Hold it!" Roxas yelled, dodging the swings that Riku sent at him.

"That guy's in cahoots with Xembaba! If you're friends with him, then you're my enemy!" Riku shouted.

Frustrated, Roxas summoned his Keyblade, momentarily startling Riku. In one powerful swing, Roxas knocked Riku's Keyblade from his hand, and followed it up with another strike that sent the Keyblade into the wall, two inches from Riku's right ear.

Riku snarled, "You… just you wait and—"

"_BOYS!"_ a loud voice suddenly echoed from nowhere, causing both Roxas and Riku to jump. Suddenly, Roxas felt something detach and lift from his back. Turning, he saw that it was one of the little paper dolls. Apparently, it had stuck to his clothes earlier.

The paper shimmered, then turned into a hologram of a pretty young girl with blonde hair in a white dress. Her blue eyes flashed in anger. "No matter what world you go to, boys will always be boys," she muttered. "Always using violence to solve their problems…"

Riku growled. "Who are you?!" he demanded.

"Oh, be quiet," the girl said, zipping her fingers through the air. Riku instantly shut up. "And those clothes look stupid on you. Why don't we change you into something a little cuter?" And in a flash, Riku had turned into… a Pichu.

"Chu?" Riku said, looking down at himself. "CHU! Pichu pichu pichu pipipipi chu!" he squeaked as he ran around in helpless circles.

Roxas stared at Riku. "Who _was_ that?" he asked. "Was that really Riku?"

"That was _Replica_ Riku," the hologram girl said. "'Repliku' for short. He and Xembaba don't really get along—the whole 'you're a failure' and such—but he'll be missed, so let's put a replica of the Replica in his place," and with that, the girl waved a hand toward the three Dusks that had been crowding around Axel, and in a flash the Dusks had become Repliku.

"And just to go for a perfect record," she said, turning to the Creeper, "let's turn you into something too!" And the Creeper became a Pocket Cucco.

The girl turned to Roxas with a smile, which was more than slightly disturbing considering that she had just magicked nearly everyone in the room into horrifyingly cute shapes (well, maybe with the exception of the three Dusks into replica Repliku, though his face… never mind). "This is our little secret!" she said, making a cute gesture with her finger up to her lips. "Tell anyone and I'll rip your mouth off."

Roxas swallowed. "Wh-who are you?"

The girl kept on smiling. "My name's Namiba. I'm Xembaba's twin sister."

"I… see the resemblance?"

"Oh don't bother, everyone knows I'm much cuter," Namiba said, waving it off. "Anyway, thanks for leading me right to the dragon. Now," her face turned cold, "hand him over to me."

Roxas frowned and stepped between Namiba and Axel. "What do you want with him?" he demanded.

Namiba stepped forward. "He stole something very important to me, something very powerful," she said. "And now, I want it back."

Roxas held his arms out protectively. "No! Axel's a good person. He wouldn't steal!"

Namiba closed her eyes and shook her head disdainfully. "Tch. Do you know why he decided to become my brother's apprentice? To steal his secrets and his powers! And now, he's trying to steal mine, too." Namiba opened her eyes again. "He's a rotten thief. There's absolutely nothing good about him. Now step aside, little boy. I'm taking back what he stole. It's cursed, anyway—anybody who tries to steal it will die."

"No!" Roxas screamed.

Suddenly, Axel seemed to spring back to life. Whipping his tail through the air, he sliced the paper doll in half, causing Namiba to shriek and vanish.

However, the force with which Axel struck caused him to slide backward across the carpet and slip into the pit that Roxas had noticed earlier. Roxas grabbed onto Axel, Repliku grabbed onto Roxas, and the Pocket Cucco grabbed onto Repliku, and all of them fell down the chute together…


	8. The Train

**Chapter 8**

**The Train**

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Mickamaji was enjoying a nice cup of afternoon tea and taking a break from running the boiler when SUDDENLY a little blonde boy and a large red dragon (and a yellow mouse and a Pocket Cucco) crashed through the trash chute and into the boiler room.

"Jiminy Cricket!" Mickamaji shouted. "What is going on here?!"

"Axel!" Roxas shouted, "are you okay?!" The dragon groaned.

"Roxas, be careful!" Mickamaji said.

Roxas stared at Axel, tears in his eyes. "Axel, come on," he said, running his hands over the dragon's face, "what's wrong with you?"

Axel struggled to his feet and crawled to an open spot on the ground before collapsing in a heap. He coughed, spitting dark blood onto the wooden floor.

"Axel!" Roxas shouted. "Axel, don't give up!" Turning to Mickamaji, Roxas asked, "What do we do? Is he really dying?"

Mickamaji observed Axel and shook his head. "It looks like he's bleeding on the inside. Maybe he swallowed something."

Roxas stared helplessly at Axel, until he remembered. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the paopu fruit. "Axel, the floating head guy gave me this. It's supposed to be magical," he said. "Eat it. Maybe it'll help…"

But Axel's jaws were clenched tightly shut, sharp teeth closed perfectly together. Unable to open Axel's mouth and hold the paopu at the same time, Roxas bit off half of it, ignoring the awful taste, pried Axel's jaws open with both hands, and stuck the piece of the fruit in his mouth.

Immediately, Axel's eyes bugged wide open and he started to gag. "Swallow it!" Roxas commanded, holding Axel's mouth shut with both arms. Axel did, but immediately gagged and coughed up… a box of crayons.

"Crayons?" Roxas said, looking between the box and the dragon dumbfoundedly. "You ate _crayons?"_

Roxas was about to comment that maybe he wasn't the only stupid one here after all when suddenly a black slug appeared on the box.

"Gyaaah!" Roxas screamed as the slug started to scurry about the floor.

"Get it!" Mickamaji shouted.

Roxas was about to crush it with his foot, when suddenly he remembered that he had a Keyblade, after all, so he summoned it, swung it with all his might, and squashed the slug DEAD.

The excitement over, Roxas turned to examine the box of crayons. "Axel stole this from Xembaba's twin sister," he explained.

"Namiba's magic box of crayons?" Mickamaji said thoughtfully. "That's about as powerful as it gets. With those crayons, Namiba has control over people's memories."

"Over memories…?"

Just then, Axel transformed from his dragon shape back into his human form. He shuddered slightly and winced. Roxas rushed to his side (everybody now: "D'awww…").

"Axel," Roxas said. "Is he gonna be okay?" he asked Mickamaji.

Mickamaji sighed. "There was a strong curse on that crayon box," he said. "It's made him very ill. Let's just try to make him comfortable."

The two carefully laid Axel on his back and fed him some soup. Mickamaji sat back and shook his head. "Poor Axel. He's had it hard ever since he got here."

"What happened?" Roxas asked.

"He showed up out of nowhere, just like you did," Mickamaji said. "But he got mixed up with Xembaba, and asked to be his apprentice. I told him that it was dangerous. 'Go home,' I said. But he said that for some reason, he had no home to return to."

"That's awful," Roxas said.

"Indeed. And once Xembaba got control over him, his face turned pale and his eyes turned steely. He's never been the same since."

Roxas sat in silence, then looked down at the crayon box in his hand. "Mickamaji, what if I take the box back to Namiba? I could give it back and apologize for Axel. Maybe she could help." He looked up at the mouse. "Do you know where Namiba lives?"

Mickamaji scratched one of his round ears. "You'd go there? I mean, it might help, but she's a dangerous witch…"

"Please, Mickamaji," Roxas begged. "Axel helped me before. I want to help him now."

Mickamaji sighed. "Well… I know how you can get there, but you'll have to get back on your own. Hold on just a moment." Mickamaji turned and started shuffling through the drawers near his workstation. "Now where is it?" he murmured to himself.

Roxas turned to some Broomsuwatari who were standing nearby. "I'll need my clothes and shoes back, please." As they shuffled off to find them, Roxas said to himself, "I guess my friends will just have to wait…"

Just then, Donald and Goofy burst into the boiler room. "There you are!" Donald said, pointing at Roxas. "We've been looking everywhere for you!"

Goofy noticed the blood on the floor. "Gawrsh! What happened here?!" he exclaimed. He noticed the Pichu and the Pocket Cucco. "And who're those guys?"

"Oh," Roxas said, remembering that Repliku and Pocket Cucco were there as well, "I guess I made some new friends."

"Well, you ought to stop," Donald quacked. "Xembaba's furious. The guy with all the Keyblades? Turns out it's a monster called XioNo Face. And it says _you_ let it into the bathhouse!"

"I… I did?" Roxas said, thinking back. His face fell when he realized, "Oh yeah, I did…"

Donald squawked. "You're serious?!"

"Yeah," Roxas said weakly, "I thought it was a customer."

Donald made that weird blubbering noise he makes sometimes. "It's a monster! It's already eaten three people!"

"Ah, here it is!" Mickamaji said, pulling a string of four train tickets out of the drawer and completely oblivious to everything else that was going on in the room.

"Mickamaji!" Donald yelled. "Can't you see we're busy here?!"

Mickamaji ignored Donald and handed the tickets to Roxas. "You can use these," he said. "I've been saving them for forty years."

"Train tickets?!" Donald and Goofy exclaimed together.

"Listen carefully," Mickamaji instructed as Roxas clutched the tickets to his chest. "The train stop you want is Swamp Bottom. That's where Namiba lives. It's the sixth stop."

"Sixth stop, Swamp Bottom," Roxas repeated.

"Make sure you get it right," Mickamaji said. "The train used to run both ways, but now it's a one-way ride. You sure you want to go?"

"Uh-huh, if it'll help Axel," Roxas said. "I'll just walk back along the tracks."

"Roxas," Goofy said, "what about XioNo Face?"

"I'll go take care of that now," Roxas said, slipping the tickets into his pocket. Turning to Axel, he said, "I'll be back soon. Just hold on." With that, he ran through the doorway.

Donald narrowed his eyes as he looked between Axel and the disappearing figure of Roxas. "Care to explain what's going on here?" he demanded of Mickamaji.

Mickamaji chuckled. "Something you wouldn't recognize. It's called love."

* * *

_The author banged her head on the keyboard for allowing such drivel to creep into her story._

* * *

_But the fangirls squee'd nonetheless._

* * *

As Roxas walked down the hall, he saw people scattering every which way, cowering in the corners and begging not to be eaten.

Xigbar ran up to Roxas and sighed. "There you are, little guy. Xembaba can't hold him back much longer." Xigbar led Roxas down the hall, to where Xembaba and XioNo Face were squaring off.

"Superior, Roxas is here," Xigbar said, shoving Roxas into the room.

"There you are, brat," Xembaba growled. "Go take care of the trouble you've caused." Then, Xembaba noticed the Pichu sitting on Roxas's shoulder. "What is that vermin doing in my castle?" he demanded.

Repliku growled, baring his teeth and sending tiny shocks everywhere.

Xembaba waved it off. "Whatever. It's useless to me."

Roxas thought it was funny that nothing had changed between Xembaba and Repliku.

"Anyway. Go take care of it," Xembaba said, shoving Roxas toward XioNo Face.

XioNo Face had grown into a complete monster by now, so giant that it nearly took up the room. Its armor was covered in even more spikes and ribbons than before, and its feet were oversized to the point of ridiculousness. Roxas slowly stepped before it.

"Try this," XioNo Face said in Marluxia's voice as it held out a plate of food, "it's delicious."

Roxas shook his head.

"Or do you want some more Keyblades?" XioNo Face said in Demyx's voice as it poured Keyblades from its other hand.

Roxas shook his head again. "I have someplace I need to go, and I'm in a big hurry. So you should go back to where you came from. Xembaba doesn't want you here any longer."

XioNo Face drew back. "Aahh…"

"Where's your home?" Roxas asked, suddenly feeling a pang of sympathy. "Don't you have any family or friends?"

"No… no…" XioNo Face moaned as it dropped the food and the Keyblades. "I'm lonely," it whispered in a voice that wasn't quite Marluxia's or Demyx's. "I'm lonely…"

"What do you want?" Roxas asked.

"Roxas," XioNo Face said. "I want… Roxas…"

Holding out both hands, a pile of Keyblades appeared. "Take them!" XioNo Face demanded. "Take the Keyblades!" When Roxas didn't move, XioNo Face reached out and grabbed him.

"Are you going to eat me?" Roxas asked sadly. "Because if you're going to eat me, I want you to eat this, first." He pulled the mostly-eaten paopu out of his pocket.

"I was saving this for my friends," Roxas said softly, "but I think you should have it."

Roxas shoved the rest of the paopu into XioNo Face's invisible mouth.

Instantly, XioNo Face threw Roxas across the room. Even though it had no visible mouth, it started to throw up everything it had eaten.

"Roxas!" it screamed as it gagged. "Roxas, what have you done to me?!" It lunged for him, but missed as Roxas threw himself to the side.

Roxas scrambled to his feet, grabbed Repliku and Pocket Cucco, and ran.

"Out of my way!" he yelled as he tore down the hallways, XioNo Face following close behind, spewing food everywhere.

Roxas ran to the boiler room as fast as he could, where he stripped out of his work uniform and put on his green-and-white T-shirt and pink shorts. As he slipped his shoes on, he saw XioNo Face approaching. As XioNo Face spit out Marluxia, Roxas suddenly realized what had to be done.

"XioNo Face!" he yelled. "Over here!" When he was sure that XioNo Face would follow him, Roxas took off through the door and out of the castle.

Donald and Goofy were waiting outside. Donald heard Roxas call XioNo Face over. "Quack! What are you doing?!" Donald yelled. "Don't call it over here!"

"It's okay!" Roxas said as he caught up. "I think being in the bathhouse is what made it crazy. It needs to get out of there."

"And go where?" Donald demanded.

Roxas faltered. "I… I don't know."

XioNo Face was now about fifty feet away, and maintaining its distance. "Well, now it's following us," Goofy said.

"It's okay," Roxas said as the group started moving. "It won't hurt us."

At that moment, XioNo Face spit out Demyx, who lay dazed on the street. When Roxas looked back, XioNo Face had turned back into its original shape, a small figure clothed in a black coat.

When they reached the train tracks, Donald said, "You can get to the station from here. Just follow the tracks, and you'll get to the platform."

"Thanks, Donald," Roxas said, nodding. "Thanks, Goofy."

"A-hyuck! No problem," Goofy said, clapping a hand on Roxas's shoulder. "You better come back, y'hear?"

Roxas smiled. "I will!"

Donald and Goofy turned back to the bathhouse. Donald called out as they left, "Roxas! I'm sorry I called you a dope before. I take it back!" As they passed by XioNo Face, Donald hissed, "If you put one scratch on that boy, you're in big trouble!"

XioNo Face walked by without a sound.

* * *

Roxas followed the tracks until he found the platform. As he climbed up the steps, he saw the train approaching in the distance. It was a funny-looking train, with a giant, blue conical hat decorated with stars and moons on top of the engine.

The train slowed to a halt in front of the platform, and the door slid open. The conductor held out his hand, and Roxas handed him the string of tickets. The conductor examined the tickets, then counted the number of passengers. He paused as he pointed at XioNo Face, questioningly.

Roxas nodded. "He's coming with us."

The conductor nodded in response, tore the stubs off the tickets, and let Roxas, XioNo Face, Repliku, and Pocket Cucco climb aboard the train. Roxas led the group to some empty seats and motioned for XioNo Face to sit beside him. "Behave yourself, okay?" Roxas said.

"Aaah," XioNo Face whispered.

As the train traveled, people boarded and left. Roxas watched them as they went by. A group of three children, two boys and a girl, talked and laughed loudly, happy just to have their sea salt ice creams and each others' company.

Watching them, Roxas felt his heart ache as he wished that he could be like that, laughing and carefree, with Riku and Kairi, and Axel too, just once more.

* * *

That night, Mickamaji was awakened by a gentle tapping on his shoulder. "Eh? Ah? Who?" he muttered, turning around, only to be faced by Axel, completely recovered. "Ah, Axel, you're all right?" Mickamaji said.

"I'm fine," Axel said. "Where's Roxas? Did he go somewhere? What's going on?"

"You blacked out, remember?" Mickamaji said.

"Yeah… I remember that. I remember being lost in the darkness," Axel said slowly. "But then, I heard Roxas's voice, calling out my name. I followed his voice, and the next thing I know, I was lying here, feeling better than ever."

Mickamaji nodded. "Yes. Roxas broke Xembaba's spell over you." The mouse smiled, but it was a sad smile. "He left to return Namiba's crayons. He… did it to save you."

Axel was dumbstruck. He shook his head. "What kind of power does he have, that he could break the curse like that?"

Mickamaji smiled. "It's called love."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"… I'm leaving now," Axel announced as he walked out the door.

Mickamaji sighed irritably. "Why is it that our society would rather see two boys holding Gunblades than holding hands?"

* * *

Xembaba was examining the pile of Keyblades stacked in his office. "My castle, nearly destroyed, and for what? A graveyard of false Keyblades with no chosen wielders!" He slammed his fist on the desk. "Roxas shall be severely punished for this."

"But, wasn't Roxas the one who saved us from XioNo Face?" Demyx pointed out.

"Yes, but he was also the cause of the whole mess," Xembaba growled. "And now he's run away. He's even abandoned his friends. How have the experiments progressed? Shouldn't it be about time to take their hearts by force?"

"Hold it."

Demyx jumped as Axel strode into the room, his face declaring SRS BSNS.

"You're still alive?" Xembaba muttered. "What do you want?"

Axel glanced around the room, and spotted what appeared to be Repliku, standing quietly in the corner. He glared.

Xembaba turned to see what Axel was looking at. "Oh yes, that thing," he said. "It seems that it's finally been broken in. We shall start using it as a proper weapon this evening."

Axel smirked. "Are you so blind as to not even notice when your possession, prized or not, has been stolen?"

Xembaba glared, then looked back and forth between Axel and "Repliku." Holding up a hand, he waved it at "Repliku"…

… who immediately turned back into the three Dusks, who looked rather startled, and then fled as fast as they could.

"AAAARGH!" Xembaba roared, "SOMEONE HAS STOLEN THE PROJECT!" Furiously, he turned to Axel. "It was _you_, wasn't it?! You, you traitor! What did you do with my project?! Where is it?!"

"It's with Namiba," Axel said simply.

Xembaba halted in shock. "With Namiba?!" he shouted. "Do you know how much trouble that could put us in?!"

Xembaba whirled around and paced back and forth a few times. Finally, he looked up at Axel and glared. "I know what you're saying," he growled. "You'll get the project back, but for a price." He laughed, a deep, evil laugh. "So what do you want?"

"Tear up Roxas's contract," Axel said, "and return him and his friends to their world, unharmed."

Xembaba snorted. "Fine. That boy causes more trouble than he's worth, even as a Keybearer," he said. "But on one condition. I get to give Roxas one last test. If he fails, the power of his heart belongs to me."


	9. Friends

**Chapter 9**

**Friends**

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.

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Roxas and the others had been riding the train all day, and were now the last passengers still aboard. Finally, the train pulled up to the sixth and last stop. "I hope this is it," Roxas said as he and the others stepped off the train. As soon as they were out, the doors closed, and the train took off into the distance, where it disappeared into thin air.

"Hehe. There goes our ride," Roxas said nervously.

The little group walked along the path, until suddenly, they saw a light, bouncing toward them. As it got closer, Roxas saw that it was a lantern with a single foot, which hopped along the ground. The lantern bowed, as did the company in return. The lantern turned around and started hopping back the way it came. Figuring that there wasn't any other choice, Roxas walked after it.

Eventually, they came to a little cottage. The lantern jumped up and attached itself to the gate. Roxas hesitated, then walked up to the door.

A girl's voice called, "Come in!"

"H-hello?" Roxas said.

"I said, come in! I don't have all day," the voice called back. Roxas pulled the door open and stepped inside.

There was a fire burning merrily inside the cottage. A girl in a white dress with blonde hair was standing before it. She turned around and smiled. "I see you all made it," she said. "Sit down," she said, motioning to the nearby kitchen table, "I'll make us all some tea."

"Excuse me, Namiba, ma'am," Roxas said, holding out the crayon box, "Axel stole this from you. I came to give it back."

"I see," Namiba said as she took the crayon box. She looked curiously up at Roxas. "Do you have any idea what this is?"

"Yes," Roxas said, "it's the box of crayons that lets you manipulate people's memories. I'm here to apologize for Axel. I'm very sorry." He bowed.

Namiba examined the box closer. "What?" she said in surprise. "The protective spell is gone!"

"Oh, yeah," Roxas said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry. That was that black slug, right? I kinda squashed it with the Keyblade."

"Squashed it?" Namiba repeated. She began to laugh. "You squashed it! Hahaha!"

"W-what's so funny?" Roxas asked, a little unnerved.

"That wasn't my spell," Namiba explained. "That was the slug my brother put into Axel so that he could control him. You squashed it… hahaha…"

Suddenly, Roxas remembered the two little creatures sitting on his shoulder. "Oh, could you please turn these two back to their original forms?" he asked, motioning to Repliku and Pocket Cucco.

"The spell on those two wore off a long time ago," Namiba said. "They can change back any time they want to."

Repliku and Pocket Cucco glanced at each other, shrugged, and shook their heads.

"Suit yourselves," Namiba said as she picked up the teapot. "Here, have something warm to drink."

"Thanks," Roxas said as he took a mug of tea. Taking a sip, he felt much better about everything.

"I really don't get along with my brother," Namiba said as she sat down with her own mug. "He's so obnoxious. And a megalomaniac. And you saw how tacky his house is. We're twins, but we're total opposites." Namiba sighed. "I'm sorry he captured your friends, but there's nothing I can do about that. It's just the way things are. You'll have to help your friends and Axel on your own. Just use what you remember about them."

Roxas frowned. "Can't you give me more of a hint than that?"

Namiba shrugged.

"Well," Roxas thought, stirring the contents of his cup thoughtfully, "it seems like I met Axel a long time ago."

"That's a good start," Namiba said. "Once you've met someone, you never really forget them. The chains of memory might fall apart, but all the links will still be there."

"…" Roxas stared at Namiba, "I have no idea what you just said."

"That's all right, neither do the people who didn't play 'Chain of Memories,'" Namiba said with a laugh. "Now, while you're thinking, we're going to make you something," she said, nodding to XioNo Face, Repliku, and Pocket Cucco.

"Shall I call you Granny?" Roxas asked.

"Not if you value your life," Namiba replied with a smile.

While Roxas sat in the corner, half thinking, half cowering from Namiba, Namiba was instructing the others in the fine art of spinning threads and turning them into useful textiles… although, since XioNo Face was the only one with hands, Repliku and Pocket Cucco were left to run on the spinning wheel.

After about fifteen minutes of thought, Roxas's brain hurt too much to continue. "Namiba," Roxas said weakly, "I can't remember anything else. Anything at all." He buried his face in his arms. "Axel could be dead already, and I'm just sitting here doing nothing. My friends could have lost their hearts."

"Just wait a bit longer," Namiba said.

At that moment, XioNo Face finished sewing together what it had been working on. It handed it to Namiba, who smiled. "Ah, there we go," she said. "Who knew you were so good at weaving?" she said to XioNo Face. "Did you absorb my powers while I wasn't looking?"

XioNo Face smiled and shrugged.

Roxas looked up. "What did you guys make?" he asked.

Namiba handed it to him. It was a wristband, patterned in black and white checkers. Roxas stared at it in awe, then slipped it over his left wrist. "That's… awesome," he said.

"It's made from the threads your friends wove together," Namiba explained. "It'll help protect you. +4 Defense, actually."

"Wow," Roxas said, admiring it. Slowly, he looked up at Namiba. "Namiba?" he said. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure. Anything," she replied.

"If the black slug wasn't your spell, but your spell was gone anyway…" Roxas hesitated. "Did… did I break it?"

"You sure did!" Namiba said, grinning.

"Then… how did I do it?" Roxas asked, taking a mouthful of tea.

"With the power of true love."

"_PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT."_ Roxas spat the tea across the room.

"… what was that for?" Namiba said, slightly irritated that her good carpet was now soaked with tea and saliva.

"Uh, I just…" Roxas wiped his mouth. "What is it with people and talking about me and Axel and true love and stuff like that?"

"Well, what would you call it?" Namiba pointed out.

"Uh, I dunno, maybe like… _friendship,_ or something?" Roxas said.

"Ah, yes. Friendship," Namiba said cheerfully. "Friendship. Like, Ash and Pikachu, friendship?"

"Yeah, yeah, exactly!" Roxas said, pointing at Namiba. "Like, Pooh and Piglet!"

"Like Buzz and Woody?"

"And Shrek and Donkey."

"Yugi and Jonouchi!"

"Lupin III and Jigen."

"Harry and Ron! Bill and Ted!"

"Sonic and Tails, Sam and Frodo…"

"Mustang and Hughes, Stan and Kyle!"

"JD and Turk, Starsky and Hutch…"

"Luffy and Zolo?"

"Gon and Killua."

"Taichi and Yamato, Satoshi and Daisuke—"

"—Reno and Rude—"

"Goten and Trunks, House and Wilson…"

"Sven and Train…"

"Mori and Honey!"

"Mello and Matt…"

"Utena and Anthy! Shinji and Kaworu!"

"Heero and Duo, Kirk and Spock…"

"Simon and Kamina! Lelouch and Suzaku!"

"Louis and Lestat…"

"Tony and Maria!"

"Touya and Yukito, Fai and Kurogane…"

"Howl and Sophie!"

"Ciel and Sebastian…"

"Alexander and Hephaistion!"

"Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy…?"

"Romeo and Juliet!"

"Naruto and Sasuke!"

"Whoa now, let's not lie to ourselves," Namiba said, holding up her hands.

"Sorry."

"But, yes, I think I get your point," Namiba said. "You and Axel are… friends."

"Right," Roxas said, although he wasn't sure that Namiba, or anybody else, had gotten his point at all. But he had no time to accidentally dig deeper into the pit he was making for himself, because at that moment a gust of wind rattled the windows.

"Oh, would you look at that, we have another guest," Namiba said. "Will you go let him in?"

Roxas wondered why Namiba never seemed to answer the door to her own house, but he nodded anyway and said, "Sure." He walked over to the door, turned the knob, and pushed it open.

And there stood Axel in his dragon form, all shiny red scales and spiky red mane and bright green eyes and skinny arms.

Roxas completely forgot everything he had been trying to convince Namiba and/or himself of as he gasped loudly and ran to Axel. "Axel!" he shouted. "Axel! You're alive! I can't believe it! How did it happen?!"

From where she stood in the doorway, Namiba chuckled. "That's love for you," she said.

Roxas decided that it wasn't worth trying to correct her, or anybody else, anymore. "Namiba, look, Axel's alive!" he said joyously.

Namiba nodded and approached Axel. "Axel, I'll forgive you for stealing my precious crayons. But in return, you have to take care of this boy." Axel nodded solemnly.

"Okay, you two," Namiba said, turning to Repliku and Pocket Cucco. "It's time to go on home. Come back and visit soon! And as for you," she said, turning to XioNo Face, "I could use a good helper around here. Why don't you stay with me?"

XioNo Face smiled and nodded.

Then, Roxas let go of Axel and ran back to Namiba. He smiled at her and grabbed her hand in his. "Thank you, Namiba," he said, "thank you for everything. I'll miss you."

"Don't worry," said Namiba, shaking Roxas's hand gently. "You'll be all right, Roxas."

"I want you to know my real name," Roxas said. "It's Sora."

"Sora," Namiba said. "What a pretty name. For a girl."

"Hey!"

"At any rate, you take care of it," Namiba said.

"I will," Roxas said, picking up Repliku and Pocket Cucco and putting them on his shoulder. "I'll see you again, someday."

As Roxas turned to leave, a new voice suddenly called out: "Roxas." Turning around, Roxas was shocked to see XioNo Face pull down its hood, revealing its face… a girl's face, with short black hair and round blue eyes.

Roxas's jaw dropped. "You're a _girl?!"_

XioNo Face smiled, then held one hand out toward Roxas. In it, a Keyblade appeared. "Please," she said. "Take it. This one's real."

Roxas stepped forward and took the Keyblade in his left hand. He smiled at XioNo Face. "Thanks," he said.

XioNo Face fixed Roxas with a solemn stare. "Xembaba must be defeated, and his plans for Kingdom Hearts stopped," she said. "He wishes to use the power of Kingdom Hearts to destroy all the worlds and recreate them as he sees fit. Please, Roxas, Sora," she said. "You're the only one with the power to stop him."

Roxas looked down at the Keyblade in his hand. He nodded. "Of course I'll stop Xembaba," he said. "But my power doesn't come from me alone. It comes from the strength I gain from all of my friendships. My friends… _are_ my power."

There was a moment of silence. Axel coughed.

"Okay, okay, enough with the cheesy heroic speeches," Namiba said, pushing Roxas toward Axel. "Go on and wrap up this story already!"

"Going!" Roxas said as he climbed onto Axel's back. Axel took a few running strides, then leapt into the sky.

"Goodbye, Namiba! Goodbye, XioNo Face!" Roxas called.

"Goodbye, Roxas! Good luck!" Namiba called back.

As Roxas and Axel vanished into the distance, Namiba heard one last thing being shouted her way:

"_Edward and Bella?"_

"Just stop now, you idiot."

* * *

As the little group flew through the night sky back toward the Bathhouse that Never Was, Roxas was deep in thought. Finally, he spoke.

"You know, Axel," he said. "I just remembered something from a long time ago…

"Flying through the stars like this, it reminds me of a movie that I watched as a kid. It was about a poor boy who lived on the streets, stealing food to survive. But even though he was a thief, he was still a good person. He met a princess and, in the hopes that she would fall in love with him, asked a genie to turn him into a prince. While he was trying to win her over, he took her on a ride on a magic flying carpet. I remember that they sang a song together in that movie.

"And the names of the singers who did that song were, Brad Kane… and, Lea Salonga…"

Suddenly, Axel's eyes widened. Much to Roxas's surprise, Axel's scales began flying off his body, like sakura petals in a spring wind. "Axel?!" he cried out.

When all the scales were gone, there was Axel, back in human form, wearing the biggest smile that anybody in any world had ever seen. "Roxas, you did it!" he said, grabbing onto Roxas's hands as they started falling through the air. "You helped me remember my name! Lea! My real name is Lea!"

"Lea?!" Roxas exclaimed. "And people say _I _have a girly name?!"

"Shut up, okay?! It's mine and I like it!"

"It's okay," Roxas said, grinning. "I'm glad you got it back."

The two of them fell another couple hundred yards when Roxas asked, "So, what does your name being Lea have to do with the fact that both you and me think we remember each other from a long time ago?"

"Absolutely nothing!" Axel said. "And if people don't want to hear anything about 'Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep,' they shouldn't read these next couple of paragraphs even though there are no major spoilers here! Okay! Here I go! I used to live in a place called Radiant Garden, which I can't go back to because it doesn't exist anymore and won't until Sora restores Hollow Bastion to the way it used to be!"

"Shock! Gasp!" Roxas said.

"And while I lived there, before I became Axel, I met a guy named Ventus who might or might not have had anything to do with you, but sure looked a heck of a lot like you, Roxas!" Axel said.

"Oh, the revelations!" Roxas said.

"So… that's it!" Axel said.

"Wait a minute," Roxas said, "that explains why you sort of remember me, or a guy who looks just like me, but how does that explain why I think I remember you?"

"Remember when a trash can in a science lab caught on fire at the Destiny Island Elementary School two years ago?" Axel asked.

"Oh yeah, we had to stand outside for, like, three hours while they tried to put it out."

"Yep, that was aaall me," Axel said proudly.

"Wow," Roxas said in total adoration.

"Anyway," Axel said, "we've fallen about three thousand feet, so I think it's time to start flying again before we hit the ground."

"Good idea," Roxas said. The two gripped each others' hand tightly, stopped falling, and took off into the sky together.


	10. I'm Always With You

**Chapter 10**

**I'm Always With You.**

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The entire workforce of the bathhouse was gathered outside on the bridge, waiting. Xembaba paced back and forth in a visibly bad mood.

Suddenly, Donald noticed something in the sky. He pointed at it wildly. "There they are!" he quacked.

Axel and Roxas landed lightly on the path. Xembaba glowered. "I see you failed to bring the replica back," he growled.

Repliku snarled, leapt off Roxas's shoulder, and transformed midair back into his human form, sort of like Jacob in the "New Moon" trailer but simultaneously cuter and more terrifying all at once. Drawing his Keyblade and holding back in a ready position, he said, "I'm sorry to say, but you're rather mistaken."

Xembaba turned his glare on Axel. "What have you done?!" he hissed. "The thing is even more rebellious than before!"

"Regardless of his condition, I brought him back," Axel said. "Now you have to keep your promise. Tear up Roxas's contract, and send him and his friends back to their world."

"Not so fast," Xembaba said. "I get to give Roxas one final test."

While the bathhouse staff booed, Repliku jumped between Xembaba and Roxas. "You jerk!" he said. "You've just an evil megalomaniac who'll destroy everything just to get your way!"

"Hold on," Roxas said, putting a hand on Repliku's shoulder and gently pushing him aside. "If it's a test that Xembaba wants…"

Roxas's eyes narrowed. He held his hands out to either side. Then, in two bright flashes of light, a Keyblade appeared in each hand. Clenching his fists and focusing his energy, Roxas roared—and the Keyblades turned from Kingdom Keys into Oblivion and Oathkeeper."

"… then a test he'll get," Roxas finished.

An EPIC BATTLE took place, with Roxas, Axel, and Repliku on one side, and Xembaba on the other. The popular Organization members, Donald, Goofy, and Mickamaji sided with Roxas, and the people nobody cares about sat it out. Pocket Cucco kept score.

Two hours, sixteen Limit Breaks, a stage involving an airship for some reason, and forty-three levels of boss fights later, Roxas emerged victorious.

As Xembaba faded away into nothingness and muttered some last words about Kingdom Hearts or something, everybody else cheered wildly. "You did it!" they shouted. "Good going, Roxas!"

"Thanks, everyone!" Roxas yelled back. "Thanks for everything! Goodbye!"

"Goodbye, Roxas!" everybody shouted.

While the crowd cheered, Axel grabbed Roxas by the hand. "Let's go!" he said, and the two started running down the path that Sora had first wandered onto all that time before.

"Where are my friends?" Roxas asked.

"When you defeated Xembaba, they woke up on the other side of the tunnel," Axel said. "They're there now, and they're looking for you."

When the tunnel came into view, Roxas braced himself—but there was no painful impact this time. "The invisible wall's gone!" he said. "I can walk through now!"

"But I can't go any farther," Axel said. Roxas looked back with a stunned look. Before he could say anything, Axel spoke. "Just go back the way you came, you'll be fine. But you have to promise that you won't look back. Not until you've passed through the tunnel."

"But what about you?" Roxas asked. "What will you do?"

"Don't worry," Axel said. "Now that Xembaba's gone, somebody's going to have to rise up and take control of this ragtag bunch. I'm fine now, I've got my name back. Everything will be okay."

"Will we…" Roxas swallowed. "Will we meet again someday?"

"I'm sure we will," Axel said.

"Promise?"

"Promise. Now go. And don't look back."

"See ya, Axel."

"See ya, partner."

* * *

"Soooraaaa!" Kairi called, waving to him as he scrambled over the rocks toward his friends.

"Sheesh, slowpoke," Riku said, his arms folded across his chest. "What took you so long?"

"You shouldn't run off like that," Kairi said worriedly. "We thought we lost you."

Sora nodded, then looked at Kairi and Riku carefully. "Are you guys… sure you're all right?"

"Of course we're all right," Riku said. "What, it's not like we got into any kind of delightfully extradimensional trouble or anything like that." He turned and made his way across the rocks.

"Come on, Sora," Kairi said, holding his hand as they walked back toward the familiar side of the island. "Ooh," she said, "where'd you get the cool wristband?"

As the three made their way back to their boats, Riku shifted uncomfortably. "Sorry about earlier," he finally said, "about calling you a scaredy-cat. Caves are a bit scary, after all."

Sora shrugged. "It's all right. I think I'm fine now."

* * *

THE END!

* * *

Cast:

Chihiro — Sora

Sen — Roxas

Haku — Axel

Chihiro's Mom — Kairi

Chihiro's Dad — Riku

Yubaba — Xemnas

Kamaji — Mickey Mouse

Susuwatari (Soot Sprites) — Brooms

Little Green Frog — Demyx

Xion — No Face

Lin — Donald and Goofy

Boh (Baby) — Replica Riku

River Spirit — Ansem the Wise

Zeniba — Naminé

Bathhouse Workers — Organization XIII

Reader — You!

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_Thanks for reading! Hope you liked it!_

_(Itsumo Nando Demo — I'm Always With You.)_

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OMAKE (BONUS FEATURE):

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Exhausted, injured, and his vision failing, Sasuke could do nothing but lie helplessly against the cliff wall. He did his best to glare at the orange figure approaching him. His eyes might have been ruined, but that color was recognizable from a hundred miles away.

Naruto.

Naruto walked slowly, deliberately across the ground. In his right hand, he clutched a kunai. One strike, and everything would be over.

Sasuke growled. "So here it is," he said in a voice hoarse from shouting and blood. "Here it ends. You've proven yourself the better shinobi. Good job, Naruto."

Naruto was silent. He stopped, two feet from where Sasuke lay. But although he was within striking distance, he didn't make his move.

Sasuke bared his teeth. "Why?" he whispered. "Why do you hesitate? Do you still think that you can save me?"

Naruto looked down on Sasuke, lying there battered and broken.

"Of course," he said softly.

Somehow, somewhere, Sasuke found the strength to shout. "You fool!" he screamed. "After all that I've done?! After all that I've become?! How can you possibly think that you can save me?! Everyone else has given up! Why do you keep on trying?!"

"AAAAARGH!" Naruto roared. His arm moved, the kunai in his hand flashing through the air. Sasuke closed his eyes, heard the thud, felt the impact of it. He braced himself for the pain… that never came. Slowly, he opened his eyes. The kunai was imbedded in the cliff wall, an inch from his left ear.

"BECAUSE!" Naruto screamed, grabbing Sasuke by the collar and bringing his face up to his, "you're my _FRIEND!!"_


End file.
